Judas Kisses
by Mvctar Avrelivs
Summary: PART THREE OF SEVEN: With an unexpected arrival to the Titan Tower, Raven and Blackfire find themselves both in unenviable positions... Finished! WARNING: FEMSLASH
1. Flights Of Fancy

**teeJudas Kisses**

This is the sequel to 'In The Shadow Of The Serpent', and the third instalment of my Raven/Blackfire fics. All my disclaimers are in my first story 'Something In Common', but I'll outline the most salient points, namely that this takes place as an alternative third season, and that I'll be taking certain liberties with the Blackfire and Tamaran, re: origin stories, culture, etc.

Thank you for your indulgence.

**Chapter One: Flights Of Fancy**

"Come on, Raven, I'll race you!" Beast Boy said, before taking the form of a crow and flying up into the morning sky.

"I don't race," Raven said, drawing in her inner strength to lift herself off the roof.

"What's the matter, Raven? Afraid you'll lose?" Blackfire asked, hovering at the same height behind her. "I'll hug you if you get scared."

"I don't get scared either," Raven replied quickly. She knew her two friends were trying to help her, but sometimes, it got so…

So…

Awkward.

No, Raven, she told herself, stop thinking about that. Think about anything else but that. Think about how-

It had been a week after two bounty hunters named Legion and Shift plowed through the Tower in a hunt for Raven, a hunt quickly stopped by the combined forces of Blackfire, Beast Boy and Raven herself while the other Titans were investigating a false lead set by the hunters. In their rampage, the two hunters (especially Legion) had caused a great deal of damage, not just to the Tower, but to Raven, who had suffered an injury to her brain that had caused her to fall into a coma.

Thankfully, her own healing powers were left mostly untouched by the injury, and now, four days after she had woken up, she was undergoing a strict regimen of physical therapy to ensure that her mental-based powers were in shape.

The entrance to the roof opened, and Cyborg emerged. "You guys okay up here?" he asked.

"We would be if this raven stopped being so chicken," Blackfire teased. Beast Boy didn't make it any better when he landed as a chicken, clucking and crowing.

"Beast Boy," Raven said, "You know all about animals, don't you?"

"Yeah?"

"Then why are you a hen?"

Beast Boy looked down at himself. "Whoops, I hadn't noticed," he said.

Blackfire smiled. "Are you sure Raven's the one who got hit on the head?"

"Ha, ha, Blackfire, very funny, you should be on Comedy Club," Beast Boy said, although he was smiling as well.

"Jealous?"

Raven looked upon her two friends bemusedly. Just a week ago, they were willing to tear each other's throat out, and now…

"I can see you're getting along fine," Cyborg said, the same thoughts apparently running through his head. "Robin asked me to come up here and check on y'all, but I think he just wanted to be alone with Starfire."

"Ooh! I hope you have a recording device around there somewhere!" Blackfire asked salaciously.

Cyborg laughed. "I wish!" he said. "Well, I've got to be going back down. Half the Tower's still falling apart, and I better keep an eye on Robin and Starfire," he finished, before heading back down.

Blackfire turned back to Raven. "So, Raven, are you going to fly, or are you going to…" She held up Beast Boy, who obligingly let out another "Cluck-cluck-cluck-B-KAWK!"

Raven sighed, and once again, drew in her inner strength.

…Azerath…

…Metrion…

…Xinthos!

(scene change)

Lord Inveldre't walked quickly through the streets of the Tameranian capital, to his brother's palace. He did not run, or fly, for someone of his station doing so here would indicate desperation and invite suspicion, while merely walking fast indicated purpose, or at least hurry, and at the worst people would suspect of him was his of being late for a social occasion.

But if he could have ran or flew, he would.

"You told me it was urgent," Duke Dezikre't said when his brother arrived at his mansion. Unlike Inveldre't, who was thin, and somewhat unkempt for s Tameranian Lord, Duke Dezikre't was large and well fed, dressed in the most refined (and expensive) of Galactic fashion. He had been waiting outside the gates; this matter was much to delicate, much too dangerous to discuss openly over electronic communication lines.

Or, for that matter, in public. "Quick, brother, we must get inside," Inveldre't said. "To a room where you can be sure no-one would hear us," he continued. "You have one, don't you?"

"Of course I do, do you mistake me for a fool?" his brother asked harshly. He then led his brother through a series of concealed doors and passages under his home until they finally ended up in a room that was almost empty save a table and four chairs. Unlike Inveldre't, who was thin, and somewhat unkempt for s Tameranian Lord, Duke Dezikre't was large and well fed, dressed in the most refined (and expensive) of Galactic fashion.

"You said it was a matter of great importance, brother mine, and since you of all people know what I do to people who waste my time, it had better be."

"Of course, my brother," Inveldre't said, the terror in his voice plain. Yes, he knew. He knew full well why he and his brother were the only surviving members of their family, knew that if it weren't for his contacts in the Tameranian underworld, he himself would be dead, knew that the only reason he had the titles and perks that came with them was because his brother saw him as a useful servant.

He also knew that once he stopped proving himself useful, his brother would do away with him, as he did with potential opposition to his ambition. Like he did with their parents and sisters. He summoned up his courage, and told his brother what he had found out.

A few minutes later, he cowered in the corner of the room as his brothers eyes flashed their bright reddish-orange. "HOW DARE SHE! HOW DARE SHE!"

"S-she

probably wants to help, bro- my Lord," Inveldre't said.

"Help? HELP! How does her going to Blackfire's side help? Do you know what could happen to me? Happen to us? All our best laid plans would be for NAUGHT if she- AAARGH!" he screamed, launching another volley of firebolts into the specially reinforced walls while his brother whimpered in the corner.

"How close is she to Blackfire?" Dezikre't asked, quietly. If anything, Inveldre't was a lot more terrified now. He had seen his brother like this just once before, when as a little child, he accidentally witnessed his older brother poison the drinks their parents customarily had before they slept. When his brother threatened him into silence then, his voice was like it was now.

"Well, back then, she was-"

"I don't mean that, you fool," he said, in that same quiet voice, "I meant in terms of distance, how close is she to Blackfire? Close enough that my fastest ships may catch up with her before they reach Earth's sensor range?"

"What?"

"I do not want Earth to become involved in this, at least not now. Their ties to the damned Green Lantern Corps and Centauri barbarians are too strong for me to risk it. Thus I ask you again, can I catch up to her without Earth noticing?"

"I-I-I-"

"Let me guess, I can't."

Inveldre't gestured an affirmation. It was all he could do.

Dezikre't was silent for what seemed an eternity to his brother. Then, "It appears that for once, the situation is out of my control. We will watch and wait, and hope that the heir of Meand'r and Fortune conspire to protect us."

(scene change)

She adjusted the controls of her craft as she passed Jupiter, to compensate for the immense gravitational pull, but she was finding it hard to concentrate. She had been around the known galaxy a few times, seen her fair share of star systems and thought herself a seasoned traveller, but as always, there was something to throw you off track.

Take Sol for instance. She had seen many ringed worlds, many large planets, but a system with both? Amazing! And the rings! All of the other known ringed planets has small, thin circlets, barely a bunch of pebbles orbiting a small world. To see a ringed planet so huge, with such a magnificent series of rings was truly a sight to behold.

No wonder Blackfire had chosen this system of all others to stay; she always had a taste for beauty. Oh sure, she might have told herself that the reason she came here was to gain vengeance on her little sister, but the pilot knew Blackfire a great deal better than that. Starfire might have been why she came, but Sol made her stay.

Her mind drifted back to the girl she once knew all those years ago, and memories flooded back into the pilot's mind.

She had to meet Blackfire. She needed to see her.

Pyurit'i gunned the engine.


	2. Beasts And Bugaboos etc

**Chapter Two: Beasts And Bugaboos Of All Shapes And Sizes**

"So, how are they?" Robin asked as Cyborg came down from the roof. In his hands was some of the Tower's ruined communications equipment that he was trying to fix, with some minor success.

"Getting along just fine, Rob, don't worry."

Robin nodded. "You think Raven's had anything to do with it?" he asked, turning some of his attention back to the wrecked comm relay, without which they were cut off from the outside world. Even their regular communicators failed to work.

"They really seem to like her, don't they?" Cyborg agreed. Seeing the look on Robin's face, he clarified, "Yes, Robin, me and Star noticed it too, it's not something you need Batman's training for," he said. "Speaking of which, where's Star? I thought you two'd be, well, you know what I mean," he said, giving Robin a 'nudge, nudge, wink, wink' look if there ever was one.

"Ha, ha, Cy, very funny," Robin replied good-naturedly. "Actually, I asked her to go get some components I need. Don't worry, I gave her a list, and it's nothing complicated."

"If you say so, Rob. I better get back to work anyway. Some of those power couplings are pretty banged up; those two caused more damage than Slade's robots did. Not to mention the fact the entire entrance hall's toast."

"Ouch, that joke hurt. You got that from Beast Boy, didn't you?"

"How can you tell?"

Robin laughed, then turned back as Starfire entered the room. "Robin! I have the components you asked for," she said, handing him over a paper bag.

"Thanks Star, with these, I should be able to have the comms up and running again," he said, placing a few of the components into the relay system. "See, Cyborg, Starfire can handle herself."

"What are you talking about?" Starfire asked.

"I was just worrying that it might have ended up like the last time you went to get Rob's components," Cyborg replied.

"Oh, don't worry, Cyborg, I have learned from my mistake. The next time Robin asks for a vibra-"

"Yes, yes, we know," Robin said hurriedly. That had been an interesting day, to say the least; thank God Blackfire wasn't with them then, it was hard enough with Cyborg and Beast Boy never letting him live it down. "Here we go," he said, routing the last circuit. "There, that should-"

" static -an attack in progress at the Jump City docks static "

Starfire looked at Robin. "Is it Titans go time?"

Robin nodded. "Titans go time."

(scene change)

"A dinosaur, yeesh," Cyborg said, shaking his head. It had been less than five minutes before Robin anaged to get a clearer report, and Cyborg was still in a state of disbelief.

"So, where did it come from?" Beast Boy asked him.

"According to Robin, a ship from someplace called Isla Sorna, but apart from that, nothing."

"That's it?"

"That's it. BB?" Cyborg asked delicately.

"Yeah?"

"We've come up against some pretty bad people before, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, these guys aren't people, it's an animal, doing what animals do, you know?"

"Of course I know! Hello, Beast Boy here!"

"I just want to know if you'd be able to, well…"

Beast Boy sighed. "Look, Cy, I'll try not to hurt it, but I will try to stop it. I can-"

"-handle it," Raven said, deflecting another of Blackfire's worried questions as they flew to the 'crime scene', as the press was calling it.

The Azerath had insisted on coming with them, and although Blackfire would have had otherwise, she did not refuse. Now she was wondering about the wisdom of that decision.

_Never mind,_ she thought. I'm here.

_I'll protect her_.

Raven herself was unsure if she was fit for duty, but she knew she had to be there at the Titans' sides; not to prove something, either to herself or to her friends, or even to society, but to protect her adopted family, even those she knew would try harder than normal to protect her: Beast Boy and Blackfire.

_Concentrate, Raven, concentrate!_ she told herself, yet images from what she saw in her mirror kept on intruding in her mind. Images both disturbing, yet…

…distracting.

Raven cleared her mind. This was no time to be sidetracked, as she plainly saw and heard when the Tyrannosaurus Rex roared as it charged through the city. Robin and Starfire were already there, but it was clear that

"They're holding back?" Blackfire asked, bewildered, and it was true; Starfire was shooting no starbolts, Robin wasn't using any of his deadlier gadgets. "Why are you holding back!" she shouted at her sister and Robin.

"We have to take them alive! No time to explain! Just wait for Beast Boy and Cy- Aargh!" he shouted as the T-Rex's tail caught him a glancing blow, throwing him into a lamppost as it turned to snap at Starfire.

"Robin!" she shouted. But try as she might, she could not get past the beast's snapping jaws.

At least, until Blackfire came into the picture. Ripping another lamppost out of the concrete, she swung it like a baseball bat at the beast's leg, causing it to roar in pain and anger as it turned to face its new assailant, now gripping a very bent, and quite useless lamppost. Roaring again, it lunged towards Blackfire.

_Forget about no harm_, she thought, seeing the huge jaws bear down on her, _it's going to kill me!_ And with that thought, her eyes began to glow-

"Azerath Metrion Xinthos!"

Enveloped in dark energy, a car dropped in front of its head, its underside facing the dinosaur, its jaws snapping shut around the vehicle. Seeing the creature try to spit out the mangled remains, Blackfire grew jubilant.

"Why Raven, I didn't know you- Raven? Raven!" Blackfire shouted when she saw Raven kneeling on the ground, holding herself as if she was freezing. "Raven, what's wrong?"

"Used up…too much power…" Raven whispered, as Blackfire gathered her in her arms.

"I told you, you weren't…ready," Blackfire chastisement trailed into silence, as a dark shadow fell over them, and they looked up into the two yellow, catlike eyes of the Tyrant Lizard King.

"Where's…Starfire?" Blackfire croaked, feeling the heat of the creature's breath on them.

"She…flew off…with Robin," Raven whispered back. Some time ago, in a prideful attempt to prove to her friends that she suffered no fear, Raven's fear had manifested itself in a variety of terrifying ways, and ever since that incident, she had taken care to show it, or at least admit it when she was afraid. Now, however, terrifying manifestations would have been most welcome.

Or maybe not, if what she saw in her mirror was one of those manifestations…

The beast began to tense, in preparation for what Blackfire knew was to be (for the two of them anyway) its final strike. She closed her eyes, and held Raven close to her, and maybe she imagined Raven place her own arm around her-

-when another deafening roar shattered the silence. Breaking off their embrace, Blackfire and Raven watched as the T-Rex turn its attention to another one of its kind, except nowhere (or nowhen, for that matter) before had a T-rex ever been such a bright shade of green.

Beast Boy impacted into the other dinosaur, sending it crashing into the stretch of road behind it, while Raven and Blackfire turned to see Starfire landing beside them.

"Where were you?" Blackfire shouted.

"It was Robin, I had to-"

"Do you realize we could have been killed? I saved your life, and your boyfriend's! The least you could have done was return the favour, you-" Blackfire screamed, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't," Raven whispered from behind her, "She did the right thing."

"What do you mean, she did the right thing?" Blackfire asked incredulously. "Raven, y- _we_ could have been killed!"

"She was trying to protect Robin's life," Raven countered, her breathing still ragged. "Like you were trying to protect mine."

"For a moment, Blackfire was struck with panic. She knew Raven was an empath, able to feel other's emotions. Had she- Suddenly, Raven collapsed again, to be gathered up in Blackfire's arms, and Blackfire was struck at how delicate Raven was, how for all her emotional strength, Raven was still just only human; a little girl. She should not have been here, fighting giant beasts; she should have been at home, wherever that could have been, with-

_-parents who love her-_

Blackfire tried to halt the errant thought-

_-someone who loves her-_

With an effort, Blackfire cut off her misbehaving thoughts in mid-lecture. There was no time for that now.

The T-car pulled itself up behind her, and Cyborg stepped out. "Titans, g- what? Blackfire, what's with Raven?"

"Tried to do too much, too soon. Where's Robin?"

"At the hospital. You better take Raven there too," Cyborg said. In the background, another pair of titanic roars echoed through the city as Beast Boy and the T-Rex continued their melee.

"I'm…fine," Raven said. "I just need…some rest…Tower." And with that, she fell out cold again.

"I better do what she says," Blackfire said.

"Is that wise, sister?" Starfire asked.

"One, Dr. Hook may know the supernatural, but I don't think he knows enough," Blackfire snapped back, not in the mood to argue, "Two, if you can find anyone who knows Raven better than Raven, please, bring them here! And three, Beast Boy's all alone out there, and he needs your help! Now go!" she commanded, before she flew off to the direction of the Tower, Raven in her arms.

"Should we follow her?" Starfire asked.

"No, she's got a point," Cyborg conceded. "Beast Boy's all alone out there, and Raven…she's Raven. Come on, let's go."

And with that, the two of them rushed off to assist their green friend.

(scene change)

_Raven found herself floating…_

_Dreaming…_

_Flying…_

_Dreaming…_

_Soaring…_

_To the, in the, Dr-_

She was a raven. Not Raven, but a raven. A bird. Of the species Corbin. Where had she heard that before? Corbin. It seemed so far away, it did.

"rRrawK! In a way, it is. rRaawk!"

Raven suddenly became aware of her surroundings. No longer a bird (but was she ever a bird? or did she just feel like it? I wonder), she found herself in a garden, sitting on a branch that seemed too thin to be comfortable, or for that matter, able to support her weight.

Yet there she was, perfectly comfortable, on the branch of a withered old tree, in the middle of a modest garden beneath a grey sky. "Where am I?" she asked. Then she realized who she had asked.

"You tell me. This is your dream, isn't it? rrRawk!" the crow asked her back. "Sorry about that, got a little something in my throat. Woulda tried getting it out somewhere a little less, well, pretty, but my friend Barnabas, he gets annoyed when I do that."

The raven looked down, replying, "Touchy son of a bitch, ha-ha, but I like him." It looked up, back at Raven. "Name's Matthew, 'case you're interested. rrrRAWk!" And with that, Matthew coughed up a large bone (large for him, anyway).

"Where-where am I?" Raven asked. For some reason, the fact that she was sitting on a tree branch, talking to a raven who talked back, didn't really seem all that strange.

After all, this was a dream, wasn't it?

And strange things happen in dreams.

And Raven was no stranger to strange things or dreams.

"Hello, Raven. You're in my garden."

Raven looked behind her, and saw a very pale young man in white robes standing below and behind her. "Your garden?" she asked hesitantly.

"You could say that. I own it, but the two people to whom it really belongs live up in the house on top of that hill," he said, pointing to the hill behind him. "But you did not come here to admire gardens, didn't you?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you bring me here?"

"Just ask yourselves," the young man said, pointing in front of him.

Raven looked at where he was pointing, and gasped as she saw herselves, or rather, the aspects of her personality standing before her.

"Umm…yeah, we brought you here, sorry," Regret said, her grey cloak drooping as low as her eyes.

"What's there to apologise for?" Bravery retorted. "If she had listened to me, we wouldn't have to do this!"

"Come on guys, chill out! It's not all her fault!" Joy told them both. "I mean, sure, maybe she could listen to me a bit more, but she has some very good reason not to. Isn't that right, Raven?"

"Yet one must admit the veracity of Bravery's statement: that had Raven actively pursued her happiness, we would not have had to do this; indeed, I daresay we'd all be in a better position," yellow-cloaked Wisdom said.

"Better position, schmetter smosition. What was wrong with what we had before?"

"Hellooo, Sloth, remember what happened the last time Raven did not want to listen to her emotions? Her friends got eaten! Who knows what'd happen now?"

"I don't mind finding out," the red robed Fear/Anger sneered. Although weaker after the intrusion by Beast Boy and Cyborg, she still had considerable power, and wasn't afraid to use it.

"Stop it!" Raven shouted. "What do you want?"

"What we have always wanted," said another voice, this time to her side, and Raven turned to see a white robed version of herself.

"Who the heck are you? Chastity? I wouldn't mind seeing your sister!" Matthew leered.

"No, Matthew," the pale boy said. "That is Raven's essence, who Raven truly is. All the others are just aspects; decorations, isn't that right, Truth?" he asked, receiving a nod in reply.

"You- you brought me here." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, Raven, I did," Truth replied. "And I think you know why. Of all the beings in the universe, I am one of the few whom you may never hide your mind from. You know what I'm talking about," she finished, anticipating Raven's every reply.

Raven immediately felt herself falling, even though she was still on the branch. The faces of her aspect, Matthew's, Daniel's, Truth's, all spun around her, blurring…

Falling…

Falling…

She stood up on a rocky plateau floating in a familiar dark void. This was Azerath, the home she had never known but always remembered. There was something in the air, an almost oppressive sense of déjà vu.

She knew where she was.

She knew when she was.

Her mind, a week ago.

She found herself taking the same steps she did before, not because she wanted to, but because she had to. Step…step…step… until she found herself in the garden of her mind, seeking peace.

Just as before.

Thoughts she believed to have buried, or at least suppressed rose again. Thoughts about thy she had found it increasingly hard to keep her mind around Blackfire. About how hard it was to keep control around her friend's sister, about how it seemed that Blackfire knew all the right buttons to push.

Disturbing thoughts that maybe Raven was allowing her to push those buttons.

Just like before.

Soon, the pressure of those thoughts began to suffocate her, even here, the place Beast Boy had remarked as the place 'where air fresheners come from'. Raven began to run through portal after portal, trying to escape herself. Mazes, halls of mirrors, libraries, all passed by her in a blur.

Just like before.

But soon, Raven began to grow tired, and the whispers were growing too loud, too close.

Just like before.

She dropped to her knees, and begged, pleaded to the voices for silence, and she wept.

Just like before.

Suddenly, she felt two hands take hers, and she opened her eyes to find herself in a white space, empty save for her, and the other occupant- Blackfire.

They sat there, in silence, Raven having a thousand questions, knowing Blackfire had all thousand answers, and knowing that not one of them was the right question, or the right answer.

"Raven," Blackfire asked, "you don't honestly expect me to say it, do you?'

Raven shook her head, and sighed contentedly, eyes closed, as she felt Blackfire's hand caress her cheek. She felt Blackfire's hand behind her head, felt it pull her closer to Blackfire.

Just like before.

Raven opened her eyes as their foreheads touched softly, saw Blackfire's gaze hold her own.

Just like before.

"Raven…" Blackfire whispered.

Just like before.

"Raven…" she whispered again, closing her eyes.

Just like before.

Raven closed her own eyes in response, as her lips parted, and she felt Blackfire's lips touch her own as she whispered, one last time, just like before,

"Raven-"


	3. Old Friends, New Enemies

**Chapter Three: Old Friends, New Enemies**

"Raven?" Blackfire's voice echoed in her mind.

With a start, Raven woke up to find herself in the infirmary, Blackfire and the other Titans around her.

"Raven? You okay?" Beast Boy asked, and even in her state, Raven felt his feelings of guilt, no doubt brought on by the fact that he had not been there for her. After all this time, she could read him like a book.

So why did she feel how she did for Blackfire, of all people?

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked again.

"Yes?"

"You spaced out on us for a moment there. Scared me- us a little, you know?"

"Sorry," Raven said, trying to keep the memories of what she saw in the mirror from intruding upon her thoughts.

"Do not be sorry, Raven," Starfire interjected. "Beast Boy was concerned for you, as we all are."

"You should have seen me out there, Raven!" Beast Boy said. "It was great! First, the T-Rex charged at me, and I dodged it, and then I charged at it-"

"After me and Starfire got into the game and started blasting away at it, it crouched down and bent its head." Cyborg interrupted.

"Dude, I was in the middle of telling Raven what had happened!"

"What's there to tell? We shot a few blasts at it and it crouched down and bent its head," Cyborg repeated.

"His head," Robin said. "Apparently Dr. Grant said it was what a male T-Rex would do when confronted with a more powerful rival."

"Dr. Grant?" Raven asked, bewildered.

"Dr. Alan Grant, a palaeontologist; he studies dinosaurs-"

"So you might be saying he was the one responsible?" Blackfire asked, a barely noticeable glow in her eyes.

"No; in fact he was the guy who reported the crime in the first place. The police are still trying to investigate who brought the dinosaur here."

"Good; when they do, I got dibs on the first punch," Beast Boy said, before Blackfire could say anything.

(scene change)

Cassius Wolfe, head of the Wolfe Conglomerate sat in his office, awaiting his project leader's report. A tall, imperious man with Roman features, he had heard over the news what had happened, and he did not like it at all. He had not brought this company up to the top of the Fortune 500 by making public mistakes, and he was not about to suffer that from his employees.

Karl Mannheim stepped into the office. Although officially, he was a mere personal assistant to the only man who managed to rival Bruce Wayne in wealth and personal charisma, in reality, he was the man who headed most of Wolfe's clandestine projects, most of which were, if not illegal, then bending the law to extremes.

"What happened?" Cassius barked out at his adjutant.

"According to our sources in the police force, as well as the last transmissions we received from the ship, it appeared that the amounts of tranquilizer needed to subdue the subject were inadequate, sir."

"Inadequate? Inadequate! Weren't those idiots briefed on what to do?"

"Yes sir; unfortunately, the narcotic properties of the sedatives were apparently not lost on the crew. Our last hidden camera recordings show them discussing the sale of any spare tranquilizers." Clearing his throat, Karl continued, "With all due respect, sir, this might not have happened had we hired trained mercenaries, instead of out-of-work Arulcan soldiers."

"Your suggestion is valid, Karl, but in case you forgot, the cost would have been enough to set alarm bells ringing with the anti-corruption officers investigating us then. Those soldiers were the only mercenaries we could afford."

"Sorry, sir, I had forgotten. Perhaps, perhaps we should have waited until the investigation was over?"

"What, and let the Umbrella Corporation beat us to it? In case you haven't noticed, they are running genetic programs too, Karl! We _cannot_ afford to be left behind! At any rate,_ this_ scandal should be enough to keep them all off balance. Speaking of which…?"

"Do not worry, sir, the police would not touch us. Our current funding covers such… expenses, sir."

"Good. Should any police officer prove more troublesome than usual, then come to me. Everyone has a price, and if need be, I'll match it- Wait, what about the New York project?"

"We are still in the preliminary transport stages, sir. It is quite hard to ensure the subject's transportation without anyone noticing. It can be done, but it will take time, sir."

"As long as it gives us a head start over our competitors, Karl. Proceed as you will."

"Yes sir."

(scene change)

"Here you go, Raven, Ben'jessrit Soup! It is a most wonderful cure for aches of the head and mind!" Starfire said, laying down a bowl on the dining table, in which horrible green things seemed to be floating, in a soup an even more horrible shade of yellow.

"They say it also gives you the power to see the future," Blackfire added, slathering mustard all over her slice of pizza.

"Hooray for me," Raven deadpanned, as she stared down at the soup. She had a hesitant spoonful. It tasted surprisingly good.

"So can it?" Beast Boy asked over his tofu steak.

"Can it what?" Blackfire replied.

"Can it give you the power to tell the future?"

"Beast Boy, there are thousands of places all over the Galaxy where games of chance are played, some legal, the others more fun. If the soup did give me the power to see the future, do you think I'd have to steal for a living?"

"I don't know; anyone who eats pizza with pineapple toppings and mustard can be capable of _anything_."

Over the sound of Blackfire's and Beast Boy's laughter, Raven wished the soup would give her the power to see the future. Good, bad, she didn't really care; it was the uncertainty that really hurt.

She knew she had to act, but how? Suffer in tragic silence? Or maybe she would take a page out of the soppy romantic movies Robin and Starfire watched together late at night when they thought no-one was around, and simply kiss Blackfire?

Tell Blackfire now and then that, yes, she was- she had a strong attraction to her, and that she hoped Blackfire would understand?

She took another spoonful of the soup, trying to think about what to do. She knew, or at least she thought she felt, that Blackfire felt somewhat the same way about her, and that given a chance would return her feelings. In true Raven fashion, she calmed herself, and began silently meditating on her situation.

The true problem lay with her friends, especially Starfire and Beast Boy. There was no question of hiding any relationship that may spring up. Starfire; how would Starfire react to the fact that her sister and her best friend were in a relationship? How would Robin react, given the ties between Starfire and him?

How about Cyborg? How would he react? He and Raven were pretty close, closer perhaps than she and Starfire in some respects, and while she had a hunch that he would not mind one way or another about Raven's romantic preferences, she could not be truly sure about him.

And what about Beast Boy?

How would he react?

Most people thought that simply because Raven was so emotionally detached most of the time, she had very little knowledge about emotion. In reality, she probably knew more about emotion than anyone else; her demonic blood made sure of that, made sure that there was a reason for her emotional detachment.

That was why out of all the Titans, she knew Beast Boy to be the most emotionally volatile.

Starfire was naïve; not stupid, but naïve, and she looked at Earth (and indeed, everything else) with her characteristic childlike innocence. Robin was dedicated, sometimes to the point of fanaticism; his behaviour regarding Slade, and at the Challenge Of Heroes (if Speedy was to be believed) was more than ample proof of this. Cyborg was often easygoing, and of the Titans, perhaps the most worldly-wise; despite his obvious athleticism, Raven saw in him the markings of a teacher. And despite her abrasive exterior and her ruthless, bitter practicality, Blackfire was fast proving to be someone Raven could…feel comfortable with.

That left Beast Boy, the one wild card (no pun intended) among the Titans. On the outside, he was just an annoying little joker; if the Teen Titans were characters on a television show, or even a cartoon, he'd be the comic relief, nothing more. He'd probably have the moped he had always wanted, too.

But beneath that laughing exterior was a man, not a boy, who treated life with a passion, with an intensity that often surprised the other Titans. None of them could have predicted why he acted the way he did after Terra betrayed them. In fact, none of them could have realized how he acted when Terra was around in the first place: long, private walks in the park, going to the movies together; even when all six of them went out, the two of them would often retreat into their own little world. And now, that Terra was gone, both he and Raven had the misfortune of being in a situation where he had transferred his feelings over to the only other girl who had treated him as someone who had mattered more than just a friend. If only he could realize being treated like a lover, and being treated like a favoured brother.

Beast Boy loved, and hated, with all his being.

And though Raven did not show it, it scared her.

She planted her spoon once more in the soup, and was vaguely surprised to find it empty. Absorbed in her thoughts, she had finished her soup. "Wonderful!" Starfire cried. "Do you wish another bowl?"

"No thanks. I'll just sit here and…think."

"If you wish, Raven. Does that mean I can have this extra bowl of soup, then?"

"Knock yourself out."

If such a response, or such a prolonged silence for that matter, had come from another Titan, the rest of them would immediately sense something was wrong. But she was raven, se of the long silences, and dismissive answers. There was something to be said about small mercies.

She watched her fellow Titans, as she had done before, on the day that Blackfire had come. She saw Robin and Cyborg busy scanning through the database looking for any information regarding the dinosaur attack. She saw Blackfire consistently tromping all over Beast Boy at yet another game. She saw Starfire bring over her soup Robin and share it with him, as the setting sun illuminated the horizon. She saw how he held his hand up to his mouth, and rapidly jump up from his seat and dash off to the bathroom, his face almost as green as Beast Boy's.

And then…

She saw herself, on her deathbed, with her friends at her side, yet so alone.

She saw himself going to her grave, never knowing.

She saw… she saw something, and that something was nothing; the nothingness of ignorance, the nothingness of cowardice. They say a coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero but one. She saw herself dying every day she did not, would not allow herself the possibility of being with Blackfire. She would be nothing more than an empty vessel, existing, but not alive.

She saw herself with nothing but the trappings of a family.

She had to do it. She had stayed in her shell long enough. She had to risk this relationship, if only to place her mind at ease, to know what would happen. Wounds heal; even if Cyborg was against it, he would forgive her quickest of all. Starfire and Robin; Starfire would be as almost as quick to forgive her (hopefully) as would Robin, he being so attached to Starfire.

As for Blackfire and Beast Boy, the two who concerned her the most: Beast Boy, would in time, pardon her. It would require a great deal of work, but they had been through too much. And since this train of thought relied on Blackfire accepting her, well then, that point was moot.

Of course, Raven could be utterly wrong about all of them, but that was a risk she was willing to take.

_Where had that urge come from?_ Raven wondered; that urge to take risks, something she would have never have contemplated before. Maybe Blackfire had more of an impact on her than she had thought.

And, that, in itself, was perhaps the most ironically comforting thought of all.

She would tell Blackfire, but in private. Just to see if it even had the faintest chance of working out for the both of them.

"Robin!" Cyborg said over his intercom. "There's a ship requesting permission to land on our roof."

"Tell them to come back later," a very sick-sounding Robin said over the channel. "or ask them if they've got any-urhhh…" There was a further sound of something unidentified splashing.

"No can do, Rob, they're already on a landing vector."

"You guys go up there first, I gotta-urhhh…"

"Come on, guys, you heard the man," Cyborg said. "Let's go up. If this guy's not friendly, at least we'll be ready for him."

"Dude, come on! I'm just about to beat Blackfire!"

Blackfire looked at the screen, where they had been playing Grand Larceny: Mortal Wombat Edition. On the screen it showed Blackfire's score as over two million. Beast Boy's score could be counted on the fingers of a blind butcher's hand.

"Well, I could have."

(scene change)

"Well, Blackfire, you're the Galactic traveller, what is it?" Cyborg asked, gazing up at the ship slowly approaching them.

"It seems to be a typical Traders' Guild scout ship. They normally carry a small amount of trading items to unexplored markets, just to see what kind of stuff the natives would demand. After that, the real traders come along."

"So… we're being visited by intergalactic telemarketers?" Beast Boy asked.

Blackfire shrugged. "I don't think so. For one, the Guild only sends these ships in fleets, so that they can sell different things to natives in various regions. Second, since a fleet of ships coming out of nowhere will of course scare people, they would have long since arranged for global leaders to know about their arrival and to prepare Earth for it."

"But this ship's coming alone?" a slightly ill-looking Robin said as he joined them.

"Yes, and that is very unusual for the Guild."

"Is it armed?" Starfire asked.

Blackfire rolled her eyes. This is the person her father wanted to make ruler? "No Starfire, they are not armed. None of the Guild's ships are. In fact, one of the conditions they have for trading with a planet is if that planet can provide them a military escort."

All in all, Blackfire silently concluded, this ship was a mystery. Hopefully it would all be revealed when the ship landed.

When it did, a hatch at the side of the ship opened, and when the pilot stepped out, Blackfire's heart skipped a beat.

She had much shorter hair than Blackfire had remembered, not even shoulder length, and instead of its flaxen colour, it was now a dark shade of brown, and instead of the soft robes Blackfire had always remembered her in, she wore a typical Trader's Guild jacket uniform, but nothing could ever hide the fact from Blackfire that she was someone other than _her_.

Pyurit'i.

"Hi Blackfire," she said in her perfect voice, "some of my Centauri contacts told me you were here. Miss me?"


	4. Pyurit'i

**Chapter Four: Pyurit'i**

(AUTHORS: NOTE: Yes, I hate A/Ns in the middle of a story too. Just bear with me a moment. Ahem: Once more I am deluged with emails asking me if this story is part of a series, and the answer is YES, the first and second stories being 'Something In Common' and Shadow Of The Serpent', respectively. Thank you for your indulgence.)

Blackfire's jaw dropped agape. For one brief moment, she thought she was dreaming, that at any moment now, she would wake up and gaze into the face of a Centauri justice sentencing her to death.

Or to her father's face, as he told her that she will be Queen of Tamaran, whether she liked it or not.

But she was her. This was not a dream. Blackfire knew the universe to be cruel, knew that she had done things that could never, should never be forgiven, but sometimes, you got an amnesty, sometimes the Divine took mercy on you. That was how Blackfire was sure it _was_ her standing there, the first person Blackfire had fallen in love with.

-_but was she the only one_-

The inner voice was silenced as Blackfire seized her old chambermaid in an iron embrace, feeling her familiar warmth combine with her own, and no words could have described her joy when she felt Pyurit'i return hold her in return.

On an impulse, Blackfire placed her lips on Pyurit'i's and kissed her deeply. She was mildly surprised and very …pleased… when, like the embrace, Pyurit'i gave as good as she got, if not better.

"Dude, I know that's Blackfire out there, but… that's so totally hot," Beast Boy said, breaking the shocked silence among the Titans, most of whom were too shocked for words.

Except for Raven.

Others would have wept.

But not her.

She was Raven.

And Raven never cried, or smiled.

And she never would.

Raven only mourned.

And she would do that.

Nothing more.

In Raven's room, beneath the Book of Azar and some comics by Neil Gaiman, beneath three worn scrolls that four vampire clans in San Francisco have almost eliminated each other for, beneath a voodoo doll that would have been used by Papa Doc to take over the world, there lay a small mirror hidden carefully within a drawer of her desk.

It began to crack.

(scene change)

"..and so you see, that was how me and Blackfire became separated." Pyurit'i said, by way of explanation, as the other Titans sat in the rec room with her. All the Titans, except Raven, who sat off at another corner of the room, reading a book.

"But how did you get out?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, you said it yourself that the King wasn't going to let you go."

"No I didn't," Pyurit'i replied. "He said that I was to be detained 'at his pleasure'."

Blackfire snorted. "Like Meand'r was ever going to be that pleased," she said, as she rested her head in Pyurit'i's lap, feeling her lover's hand through her hair.

"Blackfire! You shouldn't talk about our father like that!"

"Oh, and why not?" her sister shot back, rising, her eyes flashing purple.

"Please, Blackfire, she did not mean anything by it," Pyurit'i said, placing her hand on Blackfire's shoulder. "You must try to understand-"

"Understand? Understand! Pyurit'i, my father cut me off from my family, and tried to have you jailed for life, just because we did not see the world the way he did, and now you're asking me to believe he was _right_?"

Blackfire found herself being looked at straight in the eye before Pyurit'i answered, "Yes, and no. Yes, because like it or not, he was King of Tamaran, and because of that, he had other things to worry about than the common person; he had to worry about ruling Tamaran's holdings, Tamaran's politics, and most importantly of all, Tamaran's future sovereign, his succession."

"So you're saying he was right?" Blackfire said, not believing what her lover was telling her.

"I also said no, Blackfire. He did not have to break us apart, he did not have to hurt you and chase you away. Even if he did not approve of our relationship, he could have just revoked your title and given us a chance to make it on our own, together. One way or another, your sister would have become the next Queen anyway."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm just saying that you should understand that your father had his reasons, and that you should not blame your sister for them. Whether you want to forgive, or forget, that's entirely your choice."

"Do you?" Blackfire asked.

"Do I what?"

"Do you want to forgive or forget?"

Pyurit'i paused for a moment before answering, "No, Blackfire, I will not forgive, or forget what your father did to us. As I said, there was no need for his actions. I can understand them, but there's no chance this side of all nine freezing hells I'm going to let him off. No offence, Your Highness," she said to Starfire.

"It is…okay, I think." Starfire replied.

"So, how'dya escape?" Beast Boy asked.

Pyurit'i laughed. "Is he always this persistent?"

"No. Sometimes, it's worse." Robin answered.

"Come on, guys, quit the insults, I wanna know how you escaped!"

Pyurit'i laughed again before continuing, "Alright, alright- Beast Boy, wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, as it turned out, I didn't have to do anything at all. The ship I was on was one of Tamaran's high security ships, where they kept their most wanted, or unwanted, I suppose." Blackfire's face darkened at this, but Pyurit'i either didn't notice or pretended not to as she continued, "There was a very important leader of a local pirate gang onboard, and while in transport to the prison moon on the outskirts of the Tamaran system, they attacked. Killed all the guards who did not manage to escape, and enslaved or recruited any surviving prisoners."

"This is so cool," Beast Boy whispered.

"Anyway, after a while, I managed to get a signal about the location of their home base off to the Traders' Guild. Turns out this pirate gang was really causing them problems in the sector, and after they hired a mercenary army to take care of the pirates, they offered me a choice of rewards: a large cash payment, or working with them. Naturally, I chose to work for them."

"Didn't you want to look for Blackfire?" Robin asked, taking the words right out of a hurt Blackfire's mouth.

"Why do you think I wanted to work for them in the first place? As a Guild representative, I had a perfectly legal reason to travel all over the Galaxy, to access Guild records, to ask all sorts of questions and ask help from any police force; I had more power than most law enforcement agencies to look for Blackfire."

She looked at Blackfire and sighed. "And then, I found you." She stroked Blackfire's hair, smiling. "You know, it's one thing to steal from minor planetary banks and rich businessmen, Blackfire. It's quite another to steal the sacred artefacts of a major empire."

"I keep on telling people," Blackfire said in mock protest. "_Artefact, artefact_, I only stole one!" Blackfire corrected. "And besides, it's not much fun to play it safe, is it?"

"No it isn't," Pyurit'i replied. "Maybe that danger was what made our relationship so exciting," she added, placing her arms around Blackfire. "Not like it's going to change now though, is it?"

Blackfire laughed. "No, it isn't."

After giving Blackfire a quick kiss, Pyurit'i resumed. "Anyway, to cut a longer story short, I made a few friends within the Centauri, and when I learned that you were going to be here for a while, I bought some leave from the Guild, and came here immediately."

"Bought some leave?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, the Guild gives 'paid leave' a whole new meaning. So, what is it that you normally do, when you're not fighting crime?"

"That depends." Robin answered. "Sometimes we go out, have something to eat together, watch a movie-"

"Bo-ring!" Blackfire said, waving a hand dismissively. "I say we go out and party!"

"Party?"

"You know: dance, sing –these humans have a this great invention, they call it 'karaoke', you know, have fun! Don't tell me you don't!"

"No, it's just that, I thought, with you fighting crime…"

"It just means that I know a few places where we can get in for free. Come on," Blackfire pouted, "it'll be great."

"No arguments from me; after being cooped up in that ship for who know how long, I need some release-that is, if your friends don't mind me coming along."

"Coming along?" Starfire asked, remembering her last experience at a nightclub and not liking it.

"Of course! I mean, aren't you guys coming along?" Pyurit'i asked.

"Sorry, but the thing is: we've got a lot of work to do." Robin sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I for one'd really like to go, but…"

"Look, Blackfire, don't worry about it. You two go and catch up, do your thing," Cyborg said, raising a sly eyebrow, "and we'll do our thing."

"Yeah, it'll be just like a stay-at-home date, right Raven?" Beast Boy said, turning around. "Raven?"

But she wasn't there.

"She must be on the roof," Cyborg said.

"On the roof?" Pyurit'i asked.

"Yeah, she spends a lot of time up there, you know, doing her Zen thing." Beast Boy confirmed.

"Zen thing?" Pyurit'i and Blackfire asked in unison.

"Yeah, you know, meditating, thinking about the meaning of life, I dunno," Beast Boy said. "Sorry, Pyurit'i, but Raven, well, she doesn't mix well with people, you know?"

"I'll go talk to her," Pyurit'i replied.

(scene change)

Raven's shadow stretched over the roof as the moon's light illuminated her silent form, as she tried to clear her mind, as she tried to mend herself.

As she tried to understand.

Azerath…

_-it's not working-_

Metrion…

_-it's not working-_

Xinthos…

Raven gave up trying to meditate; there were too many thoughts literally screaming through her mind in their desire for her attention, but despite their discord, they could have all been divided into two simple groups.

One group of voices said:

_Look at how quickly she discarded me_

_See the way she immediately ran to _–her-_ arms_

_She was too governed by emotions anyway. _

_My friends, how would they have accepted it? _

_And even if they did, how would I be sure that it would have worked anyway? _

_Blackfire wasn't right for me. _

_Sometimes you have to play it safe, and Blackfire was anything but safe._

Another group said:

_She did not discard you; she was pleased to see her old…friend. _

_They were lovers once, I could not expect anything else, but that does not mean all hope is lost. _

_And so what if she was governed by emotions; I know first-hand that sometimes, you need them, if only to know that you live, and not simply exist._

_My friends would have accepted it; they would not be my friends otherwise._

_I could not be sure if it would have worked, but sometimes chances need to be taken; Blackfire taught me that. _

_That is how I know she was right for me._

_Sometimes, danger was the only way you know you're alive-_

"Raven?"

Raven turned behind her to see "Pyurit'i?"

"Please, call me Dawn," her rival (as one of Raven's stray thoughts called her) said. "That's what my name means, in Tameranian. Well, it actually means 'Light Of Early Morning', but you get my drift. May I sit down?"

Raven saw no reason why she shouldn't have, so she gestured to… Dawn to sit next to her.

"You weren't downstairs." Dawn said.

"I don't mix well with people."

"So I was told. You shouldn't be like that, you know. Mixing with people, it's good for the soul, trust me on this."

Raven did not reply, so Dawn looked out across the night sky, looking up at the stars.

"You know, I realized why Blackfire chose to stay here."

"Chose?"

"Oh please," Dawn said jokingly, "I know you've only known Blackfire for a short time, but surely you must have realized by now that she could have left at any time she wanted? She's too smart to be kept anywhere she doesn't want to be."

Dawn raised her hand in an expansive gesture. "This is one of the loveliest night skies I've ever seen, and since I've been under quite a few, I should know what I'm talking about. Blackfire always had an eye for beauty."

"Why are you up here?" Raven asked abruptly, before she managed to bring that flash of emotion under control. But she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, least of all Dawn. "I'm sorry," she said, seeing the surprise on Dawn's face. "It's just that-" she began lamely, before Dawn placed her hand on Raven's arm- very much like Blackfire did sometimes.

"Let me guess, you're not much of a people person," she said wryly, then continued. "Well Raven, you're enough of a people person to be friends with Blackfire, and that's more than enough for me," she said, getting up. "You two _are_ friends, right?"

_Friends_, Raven thought bitterly. "Yes, we're friends" Raven said.

She watched Dawn nod and walk away, before she turned once more to gaze upon the night sky. "That's all we are," she whispered, looking into the distance.


	5. Unwelcome Visitors, Unwelcome Changes

**Chapter Five: Unwelcome Visitors, Unwelcome Changes**

"Be careful with that!" Karl Mannheim said angrily to his employees. Despite costing twice as much as his previous mercenaries, Karl had the sinking feeling that they were also twice as incompetent, as he watched them take the large crate out of the military transport with anything but care.

Hopefully the tranquilizers he asked Wolfe's New York Special Projects Division would have been effective enough. And hopefully the fake clearances he had provided the Air Force with would 'check out', as they said here in America. In these post 9/11 times, any overzealous official could spell a great deal of inconvenience. The last time someone had come close to uncovering Wolfe's alternative activities, the cost for bribes and assassins had caused Cassius to fly into a blind rage.

"I said be careful with that!" he shouted to the incompetents who were now loading the crate onto the truck.

"Goddam Nazi," one of them said to his friend, when he thought he was out of earshot. Karl did hear it, but he didn't take any action. In fact, he admitted to himself, he rather liked the comparison, he mused as he got into his car and followed the truck to the test facility outside the city.

(scene change)

"Did you really have to do that, Blackfire?" Pyurit'i asked, but without rancour, as they flew away. They had just visited another club whose owner had quite run out of gratitude, and had several large burly men inform the ladies of this. Of course, those large burly men were soon reduced to large burly men whimpering on the dance floor, but no sense in overstaying one's welcome anyway.

"My, my, are you tired? Don't worry, we'll be back by bedtime," Blackfire teased.

"I hope we are; after all, I know how cranky you can get when you don't get your beauty sleep."

"At least I _get_ beauty sleep," Blackfire retorted. She didn't know how much she had missed her old flame until tonight.

They flew in silence over the rooftops of Jump City for a while, enjoying the scenery, before Pyurit'i said, "You know, I met your friend, Raven. She seems to be a nice person."

A feeling of guilt, small for now, emerged within Blackfire. "Oh, yeah, Raven. Yeah, she's a nice person to… to…"

"You like her, don't you?" her ex-chambermaid asked.

Before Blackfire could reply, the sound of a scream rose above the urban din.

(scene change)

"C'mon, hand over the poise, and nobuddy gets hoit!" the thug said, pointing his gun at the frightened teenager.

"Here! Take it! Take it! Please, just don't hurt me!"

"Hoit ya? Who wantsta hoit ya? I'm gonna do anyting but hoit ya…" the thug continued, the lust in his eyes growing as the woman's terror became more and more apparent. "Dat's right, dis ain't gonna hoit a bit…"

"Oh really?" a voice said from behind him.

The thug turned around, just in time to see Blackfire's fist heading straight for his face. Staggering backwards, his nose bleeding and broken, he raised his gun. "I'b godda maige you pay bor dad! You're bine!"

"Sorry, but she's already taken," Pyurit'i said as she landed behind him. Pulling his arm back, she then twisted it, causing him to shout out in pain as he dropped his gun. Then, spinning him around, she kneed him in the groin, causing him to stagger backwards, where he immediately found himself facing Blackfire, who wasted no time in punching him again. He actually pirouetted backwards, and after saying "_Stoopid_ heroes", his eyes crossed, collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"I think this is yours," Blackfire said, handing the grateful girl her purse back. "Here's a tip: If you're going out alone, bring some protection; or else go out with someone." Blackfire knew she was sounding irritatingly stuffy, but there you go.

"But I'm not alone," the girl said indignantly. "He's with me," she said angrily, pointing to a young man, who had apparently just come back.

"Jessie! I called the cops, so hold on- Hey, who are you guys?"

"These two are the ones who saved me, Rick! Where the hell were you?"

"I had to call the police!"

"Call the police? That thug was threatening my life, and you ran off screaming!"

"He had a gun, Jessie!"

"I _noticed_!"

Blackfire leaned over to Pyurit'i. "I think we should leave these two lovebirds here, while they wait for the police."

After they were airborne again, Pyurit'i turned to Blackfire. "You've changed, Blackfire."

"What?"

Pyurit'i laughed. "I knew a Blackfire who caused half the law enforcement agencies of half the Galaxy no end to grief and who caused every rich citizen to turn their homes into fortresses at the slightest rumour of her appearance and then rob them anyway, but the person I see here could give the Lantern Corps a few lessons."

"Come on, it was just one person," Blackfire said, somewhat embarrassed.

"Yes, but you impressed the Centauri into dropping all charges against you, and considering what you did, that must have taken some doing."

"More like I fell for one of their tricks," Blackfire grumbled.

"Maybe you did. But that doesn't mean you should have stayed." She stopped mid-air, and held Blackfire's hands in her own. "You could have run at any time, but you didn't. Why?"

"Hey, what can I say? Earth is a fun place," Blackfire shrugged.

Pyurit'i nodded, and as they flew on, she asked, "So, what do you think of Dawn?"

"What?"

"'Dawn', what do you think of it? I mean, I don't see people calling you or your sister Komand'r and Koriand'r, do I?"

"'Dawn'," Blackfire mused, thinking it over in her head. "I like it- it certainly sounds better than Pyurit'i anyway. But why the change?"

"It's what I asked your friend Raven to call me."

"Oh yeah, Raven," Blackfire replied, an anxious look crossing her face.

"Raven," Dawn agreed, her arms crossed. "Is there- is there something between you two?" she asked. "Because if there is, I don't want to get in the way," she added.

_How did you know?_ Blackfire almost said. Instead, she asked, "What makes you think that?"

"Well, this evening, when I went up to introduce myself to Raven, we got around to talking about you, or at least, I did, and she got a little evasive, just like you did just now."

"Dawn, look, you've got nothing to worry about. Raven and I, we're friends, good friends, but that's it," Blackfire told Dawn.

"If you say so," Dawn said, but she sounded unconvinced.

Blackfire didn't blame her; she wasn't really convinced of that herself.

And when they landed on the top of the Tower later that night, they gave their excuses and went their separate ways.

(scene change)

"You're back early," Beast Boy said, from in front of the television.

"And you're up late," Blackfire replied. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing much; just finished watching the Monster Monster Movie Marathon. You and Pyurit'i have a good time?"

"Yeah, we did. By the way, you can call her Dawn now; that's what her name means, anyway."

"'Dawn', huh? Okay then- er, where is she?"

"She decided to sleep in her ship. Said she was used to it." Blackfire said flatly.

"Oh, okay," Beast Boy replied, not really noticing what she had said. "Er, Blackfire?"

"Yes?"

"It's about Raven."

Oh no, not another one. Blackfire placed her hand on her forehead. "Beast Boy, it's late at night, and I'm tired-"

"Hey, I get it, no sweat," Beast Boy said dejectedly.

Blackfire sighed. Dawn was right; she _had_ changed. "I was going to ask you to make this quick."

"Gee thanks!" Beast Boy said. Then, becoming more nervous, he asked, "Well, er, I did say this was about Raven, well, um…"

"Beast Boy," Blackfire said, daggers in her voice. Changed is one thing, nice was another.

"Well, it's actually about um, me. But it's got a lot to do with Raven, you know?"

Blackfire sighed. This night wasn't over yet, it seemed. "Beast Boy, shut up, sit down, and then you start telling me what's wrong."

She should have spoken to Raven instead.

(scene change)

Raven lay in her bed, staring at her ceiling, wondering what was happening to her, no knowing if there was anything she could do about it.

The mirror she had in her drawer was not just a portal; like all mirrors, it reflected what it had to, and that particular mirror reflected her mind. As her mind fractured, so did the mirror, and that was disturbing to say the least.

She did not- could not believe what was happening to her, but the evidence lay on her table, its stark appearance for all to see. A small crack, near the top, at the middle, small, but deep. She tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but all her efforts met with no success. Her thoughts rang through her head, affording her no rest. Their cacophony grew even more insistent, some cajoling, some urging, some threatening. Raven shut her eyes as she tried to control her emotions, tried to quiet herself as she had done before, but this time, she was fighting back.

Eventually, her agonized mind could not suffer anymore. It was either she went mad, or-

Raven sat up in bed and screamed. Her cupboard expelled its contents, sending her clothes flying everywhere in front of it, before it toppled over and an unseen force crushed it. Her possessions so carefully arranged on her mantelpiece flew from their places and broke into pieces against the opposite wall. Her windows shattered, sending pieces of broken glass into the ocean and the rocks below, as the force of her unrestrained will ripped her balcony railing off its foundations. The Tower resounded with the roaring of a hurricane.

Her mind registered nothing but release.

(scene change)

"What's happening?" Blackfire shouted over the noise, Beast Boy at her side, Dawn catching up. Despite not feeling anything, they were still deafened by the roaring, as if there was nothing to block it.

"I don't know, but it seems to be coming from Raven's room!" Cyborg told her, the other Titans behind him.

"Thank you for the obvious!" Blackfire replied. "Raven! Raven!" she shouted, banging on the door.

"Let me try!" Cyborg told her. Blackfire stepping aside, Cyborg moved to punch the door down.

"Dude! Is that such a good idea!" Beast Boy asked.

"You got a better-"

Raven's doors flew outwards, flattening Cyborg against the wall, and this time the Titans did feel the typhoon-force wind as it took them by surprise. Robin would have been smashed on a wall himself had Starfire not caught him in time, while Beast Boy turned himself into a squid and managed to clamp the outside of Raven's door as Blackfire and Dawn struggled to steady themselves.

And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the tempest stopped.

Cyborg pushed the ruins of the steel doors off him, and rubbing his head, asked, "What the heck just happened?"

Looking in the room, they were taken aback when they saw the amount of damage, but they were even more shocked when they saw raven, sitting up in her bed, holding herself and shivering, as she chanted her mantra over and over again in a whisper.

She raised her head, but what she intended to say, even she did not remember. All Raven could recall, much later, was what everyone saw. She raised her head to speak, and then, fell back on her bed, unconscious.


	6. Ravennacht

**Chapter Six: Ravennacht**

"And you're sure you're feeling all right now?" Dr. Hook asked.

"I'm fine," Raven replied curtly. Her fainting spell had lasted briefly; she had woken up on the way to the hospital, but her friends still insisted on bringing her to see Dr. Hook.

"That's what your scans are telling me," Hook agreed, "but I just want to be sure. Instruments have been wrong before."

"_I said I'm fine_," Raven insisted.

"Okay, okay, you're fine," Hook concurred, noticing what Raven had apparently not; one of the computer screens behind her had suddenly gone haywire. It hadn't been switched on, or even plugged in for that matter. "I just need to talk with your friends a moment."

Closing the door behind him, he stepped out of the examining room, where an anxious group of Titans were waiting. "Well?" Cyborg asked simply.

Hook sighed. "The good news is, it doesn't seem to be a medical problem, at least, nothing our equipment can detect."

"And the bad news?" Blackfire asked.

"What makes you think there's bad news?"

"Oh please, when anyone says 'good news', it's guaranteed there's bad news."

Hook sighed. "Okay, you want the bad news? The bad news is that this is where my expertise runs out. I'm a surgeon, not a psychiatrist; hell, the only reason I'm here is because everyone seems to think I'm the expert on the subject."

"So you cannot help us?" Starfire asked.

"Not really. I have a few theories, though."

"Like what?" Robin prompted.

"Well, I hope you understand that this is guesswork, but if she manages her powers through emotional control, then what she may have could be a purely emotional or psychological illness."

"You're saying Raven's going crazy?" Beast Boy blurted out. He still remembered all too vividly what had happened the last time Raven had lost control.

"No, but I am saying she might be coming close. Has she been under any stress lately? Maybe pushing herself too hard, trying to do too much too fast? Broken heart, anything like that?"

"Broken heart? Raven?" Cyborg asked incredulously.

"It is not impossible, Cyborg," Starfire said.

For a minute, Blackfire let out a small gasp of fear, of guilt

_and why is that?_-

and turned to Dawn, to see if she had noticed, but she kept focusing on the conversation ahead of her, seemingly oblivious of Blackfire's lapse.

"This_ is_ Raven we're talking about," Cyborg was saying.

"You have to admit, Star, Cyborg's right. Raven's not the sort of person you'd expect to have a broken heart." Robin told his girlfriend.

"Besides, who could she have fallen in love with?" Dawn asked, her arms crossed. "I don't know much about her, but from what I've seen, she doesn't mix much outside the Titans, does she?"

Blackfire was grateful, jealous and a little hurt all at the same time when she noticed everybody surreptitiously glancing at Beast Boy after Dawn said this, but she was also more than a little angry at Dawn. Who did she think she was? Who made Blackfire her business?

_i did_-

To herself, Blackfire had no reply.

(scene change)

_-words-_

_-words words words-_

_-they were just words-_

_-Soon, Corbin, I will TAKE you-_

_-they are just friends-_

_-the words are just friends-_

_-friends are just words-_

_-friends is just a word- _

Raven placed her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the voices, useless though she knew it to be. She paid no attention to what they were saying, didn't want to pay attention to what they were saying, she knew them all to be lies.

Weren't they?

"Azerath Metrion Xinthos… Azerath Metrion Xinthos… Azerath Metrion Xinthos…" she whispered under her breath. Contrary to what Dr. Hook believed, she had known about the computer malfunctioning behind her, had felt the energy flow quietly from her. She was losing control of her own powers, and she didn't know why.

From outside the closed door, Raven managed to catch snippets of conversation, and she focused desperately on those from the outside, so she would not have to listen to the ones coming from within. "… manages her powers… emotional control… purely emotional… psychological illness." Dr. Hook was saying.

Emotional problem? Unlikely. Raven knew too much about emotional control to lose it so easily, or to allow it to degrade to the point where it caused such chaos.

But at least she knew how to control her emotional excesses, whereas psychological pain… that was undoubtedly the more terrifying prospect.

They were still talking outside, but Raven could not hear them anymore. She was too busy gripping the sides of the examining bed to care about what they were saying outside. She could feel it again, the pressure within her almost physically tearing her apart.

"What is happening to me?" she whispered to herself.

She had to do something.

(scene change)

"Alright, here's what I'll do," Hook said, having talked to the Titans and weighed his options. "As I said before, I don't know anything about this, and even if I did, I'm a doctor, so I wouldn't be able to help you much. I can however, give you some contact numbers of two of my college professors, as well as an old friend, who I think can help."

"Are they doctors too?" Robin asked.

"No, but they do know quite a lot about the supernatural, more than I do at any rate."

"It's a start," Robin admitted, when Raven suddenly walked out the door.

"My mirror," she said, "I have to get to my mirror." She was covering it up really well, Robin noticed, but not well enough. Although to most of the Titans Raven seemed her usual self, only Robin and Blackfire noticed the way her hands were shaking slightly.

Dr. Hook noticed it too. "Maybe you should stay here a while longer-"

"And maybe you should listen to those who are better than you!" Raven growled, and this time everyone noticed the two pairs of glowing red eyes that shone through the darkness of her cloak. This time however, there were no storms, no awesome displays of power, just a pervasive feeling of dread, of abject fear, all emanating from those four glowing red eyes.

All over the hospital, misfortune seemed to strike. Births experienced sudden complications. Minor surgeries threatened to become life-threatening. Machines gave wrong readouts, and fuses started overloading. All around the hospital, the well-oiled machine began to creak.

Then, just as suddenly as the tempest, the terror disappeared, and for the most part, life in the hospital began to return to normal again. The complications proved minor, nothing to worry about, doctors assured mothers. Surgeons quickly took action, and minor surgeries remained just that. Machines experienced momentary technical glitches, and returned to normal, problems for an uncaring Tech Support in the morning.

Around the hospital, most people escaped with nothing more than an interesting story to tell at the next social gathering, as well as a vague recollection of feeling as if someone walked over their graves.

Not so the Titans, or Dr. Hook. What had happened was something that they would _take_ to their graves. But there would be time enough for that later. For now, they had far more pressing concerns, Raven almost passing out in the doorway for one. Such was their fear, that it was perhaps only reflex action (and perhaps a little more) that allowed Beast Boy and Blackfire to catch Raven before she hit the floor.

"Okay, will somebody please tell me what the hell just happened?" Dr. Hook asked, as Blackfire and Beast Boy helped Raven to her feet. He looked around, to see if anyone else besides him or the Titans saw what had happened to Raven Thankfully, it had been a relatively slow night in terms of patients coming in, and their particular section of the hospital was relatively deserted.

"My mirror… I have to get to my mirror," Raven whispered.

"You better do what she says," Hook said. "I am not looking for a repeat performance."

"We'll get her out of your hair," Blackfire snapped.

"That's not what I-"

"Don't worry Doctor, I'm sure Blackfire didn't mean anything by it," Dawn said, looking directly at Blackfire as she said it. Blackfire didn't return the gaze.

Robin was the next to speak. "If Raven has emotional or psychological problems, the best place for her to stay would be with us anyway. Can we have the contact numbers?

"Not yet, I'll have to look for them first. Shouldn't take too long, though. I'll call you when I have them."

"Thanks."

After the Titans left with Raven and Dawn in tow, Dr. Hook went to his office and immediately began looking for the telephone numbers Robin had requested, and by the looks of it, urgently needed. Let's see now, Egon Spangler, Rupert Giles, and Wesley Wyndham-Price…

(scene change)

"It is magnificent, even when immature and unconscious," Cassius Wolfe said, as he looked into the huge chamber at his newest project. "Do you not see the potential in something like that?"

"Not really, sir. All I can see is a tool, nothing more."

"Karl, Karl, Karl," Cassius said, shaking his head at the small-mindedness of his assistant, "you must learn to broaden your horizons, see what is beyond our friend below us. We hold in our hands what maybe the greatest warrior in human history. Never before has one organization held so much power! 'Look at Umbrella' I hear the naysayers tell me, as if their mindless armies of the dead and their private nuclear weapons stock frighten me! 'Look at Wayne Industries' they tell me again, expecting me to bend my knee to a worthless playboy with more money than brains!"

He turned to Karl. "But I, only I have _these_," he said, pointing below him, "cunning, intelligent, dangerous. Look at Umbrella! What warrior qualities to the walking dead, _the weakling dead_ have? And when it comes to usage of nuclear weapons, how many poorly thought out excuses is the public going to take before they realize the truth and hang you? Bruce Wayne? Ha! I would call him a paper tiger, except he isn't even half as dangerous! And that is while he still has his fortune, before he fritters it away!"

With the air of a dictator watching a military parade, Cassius looked upon what was below him, swarmed over by technicians and biologists, as well as remotely guided robots operated by those scientists who weren't as expendable. "There's a saying, Karl: The dictator wants obedience; the tyrant demands worship." He turned back to his assistant. Smiling, he finished, "I resent being called a tyrant."

He turned his gaze away, and fixed it upon the scene below, as if it continually drew him, screamed for his attention. "So, Karl, how about the other part of the project?"

"Easily done sir. Apparently our rival Mr. Szalinski does not seem able to grasp that the world is full of nasty people, or at least, to the extent of getting better security. The device was acquired without any trouble or attention being drawn to us, and our scientists managed to supply the required adaptations. We are currently in the middle of testing our new aging beam right now."

"And?"

"The results, if my reports are to be believed, are incredible, achieving a 100 success rate in accelerating the aging process, and now all the Research Division is doing is 'tweak the process' in the words of the head researcher, making it more precise. At the moment all the test subjects seem to either end up not old enough or too old to be worth anything. Don't worry sir, they're homeless people our forces picked up from nearby towns; no one anyone will miss, nor not enough to set off alarm bells."

"Good. Dangerous though it is now, our little friend can only fulfil its purpose fully grown," Cassius said, more to himself than to his assistant. Then, he was struck by a thought. "What is it called again?"

"Well, you designated it Project Tyrant Lizard 2, sir," Karl began, clearly bewildered by his boss's apparent memory loss.

"I know what I called it Karl, but what is its name? To what do we owe the honour of coming ever closer to sitting on the throne of God?"

Karl looked at the reptilian beast below them. Not having his employer's sense of the dramatic, he stated simply, "Well, I don't think the American media gave it a name other than 'monster'," he began, "But the Japanese sailors who found it called it 'Gojira'."

(scene change)

Helped up by Beast Boy and a defiant Blackfire, who had endured Dawn's frosty silence all the way back to the Tower, Raven staggered into her room, looking for her mirror. Her eyes swept the room, trying to pick out details in the darkness.

And then, she saw it, lying exactly where Raven had put it before going to bed, the only thing in its place.

Most unnerving of all, the fracture had grown longer, this time almost splitting the mirror in half. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view), only Raven knew what it meant.

"Leave, now," Raven told her two friends, as she picked up the mirror.

"But Raven-" they both said at the same time.

"Go. Please," Raven said, her tones flat, her eyes begging. Beast Boy and Blackfire looked at each other.

"If that's what you want," Blackfire said, sounding unsure.

As the two of them exited the room, Beast Boy added, "Raven, if-if you need me…"

Raven could only nod in agreement as she watched her two friends step out the door.

(scene change)

"You think she's going to be all right?" Beast Boy asked, as they proceeded to their respective rooms.

"Why, Beast Boy, are you actually _worried_?" Blackfire said, with forced cheer.

"Of course I'm worried! Aren't you?" Beast Boy snapped, extremely offended at Blackfire's apparent lack of concern.

Blackfire opened her mouth to say something, another forced attempt at humour, and sighed. What was the use? "…yes, yes Beast Boy, I'm worried." She smiled ruefully. "Just trying to lighten the situation, I guess." Seeing Beast Boy's incredulous look, she added, "Well, it was obvious you weren't going to do it," she said flippantly.

Beast Boy looked as if he was going to tell her off again, then his face took on an identical rueful look. "Yeah, well, what can I say? I got jealous," he replied.

"I can tell," Blackfire said. It was obvious to both of them Beast Boy was only half-joking.

"Blackfire?" Beast Boy asked, after a short lull in the conversation.

"Hmm?"

"What's going on between you and Raven? I mean, what's really going on?"

"Beast Boy, we've been over this already," Blackfire said, her voice expressing all of the exasperation but none of the sudden fear that she felt.

"Yeah, but- but I-"

"Look, Beast Boy, I said it before, I'll say it again: There is nothing between me and Raven," she said. _Well, it was the truth, wasn't it?_

"Okay, okay, I get it. It's just, well…" he trailed off, his gaze involuntarily turning in the direction of Raven's room, before he turned back to Blackfire. "See you in the morning," he told her.

"Yeah, see you too," she replied, before she went in the opposite direction. She was about to enter her room when

"Blackfire?"

Blackfire turned around to find Dawn coming toward her. "Yes?"

"Blackfire, we need to talk. Just the two of us."

(scene change)

"Are you sure?" Robin asked the distinguished figure on the computer screen in the main room.

"As sure as I can be, given the rather scant information you've given me," he rebuked gently.

"Well, it's all I can give you. As I said, both Professor Spangler and Wesley told me to come to you, and besides, Raven's not exactly the sort to open up to people." Robin replied.

"Ah, don't worry, Robin; it seems to be somewhat prevalent amongst the majority of the young. You of all people should know this."

Robin laughed. "You read people's minds too?"

"One does not train Slayers without knowing a thing or two about the teenage psyche." He yawned. "I don't mean to be rude, but it is late, and while that may not be much of a problem for Batman's young protégé, it is for me, so if there wasn't anything else you wanted to ask me…"

"No, no there wasn't. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome."

As the screen shut off, Robin rubbed his eyes. Giles could say anything he liked about being Batman's student, it didn't mean Robin would not need sleep.

He walked to the refrigerator, intending to get his midnight snack early, when the main doors opened and Starfire emerged. "Hello, is anyone? Oh, it is you, Robin. I thought you had already gone to sleep," she said.

"No rest for the wicked, Star."

Starfire's brows creased in puzzlement. "But- you are not wicked, Robin. In fact, you are one of the most kind-hearted-"

"It's just a figure of speech, Star. Don't worry, I haven't gone back to working for Slade."

"Robin!" Starfire said, shocked. "If that was meant as a joke, it was not funny!"

"I'm sorry; it's just that, considering the news I just got, my mind's a bit shut off."

"Why? What news did you get?"

Robin sat down, and sighed. Now that he had time to properly process the information he had been given, he had lost his appetite.

"It's really messed up, Star."

Starfire sat down next to Robin.

"It's really messed up."


	7. Travelling Via Handbasket

**Chapter Seven: Travelling Via Handbasket**

"What did you want to talk about, Dawn?" Blackfire asked. The two of them were standing on the landing pad on the roof of the Titan Tower, outside Dawn's ship.

"What do you think?" Dawn asked in a casual tone, her back turned to Blackfire. "Or rather, _who_ do you think?"

_Not this again_, Blackfire thought. "I told you," Blackfire began. "There's nothing between me-"

"I've never lied to you!" Dawn suddenly shouted, her back still turned to Blackfire. Then, her voice becoming a great deal more plaintive, she added, "Why are you lying to me?"

Blackfire didn't need to see Dawn's face to see the tears; she heard each one in Dawn's voice. "I'm not lying to you, Dawn," she said, trying to keep her voice as firm as possible.

Dawn was silent for a moment. "I spent years looking for you, Blackfire, years. I risked everything to find you; my job, my money, my life-"

_Dawn, are you trying to guilt trip me? It's not working_, Blackfire wanted to say, but didn't, knowing that she wouldn't have fooled anyone.

"-and then, when I finally find you, you're virtually in the arms of some- some _human_!" Dawn spat out as she turned to Blackfire, eyes glowing pale blue.

At first, Blackfire was speechless, and then her eyes narrowed. "Did you think it was easy for me too? I thought you were dead! If you had so many underworld contacts, why didn't you ask someone to pass along a message? Was that so hard? Or did you only love me enough to play amateur Green Lantern?"

As soon as she said it, Blackfire knew it was a mistake. The look Dawn gave her said all that needed to be said. "Dawn, I didn't mean-"

"There is a saying among the Centauri: 'Anger shows the soul'. I think I've just seen yours, all I need to, anyway," Dawn said, turning to go into her ship.

"Wait-"

"Good night, Blackfire. I wish the two of you the best. Thanks for the good times." Then the ship's doors closed, and Blackfire was left alone with tears welling up in her eyes.

(scene change)

"First of all," Robin began, "it's not a physical problem. Apparently the state of Raven's brain has nothing to do with what is happening now."

"Is that not a good thing? At least we do not have to worry that our friend is physically hurt," Starfire replied.

Robin looked up at Starfire in surprise, then smiled inwardly. Starfire's eternal optimism was something he had to be thankful for, no matter what. It was just one of the many things he lo- liked her for.

"No, we don't," he replied, interrupting his musing. "But the thing about a physical injury is that it is easy to treat. It's Raven's mind that is posing the problem right now." He looked up at Starfire. "Do you remember what happened the night we defeated Control Freak, and Beast Boy rented the horror movie?"

Starfire nodded.

"Well, this time it's pretty much the same, except a different emotion may be involved."

"What emotion could this be? Quick! We must go to Raven and ask her to face whatever it is that bothers her!" Starfire said, getting up from her chair.

"It's not that simple this time, Star."

"What do you mean?" Starfire asked.

"Well, according to the people I talked to, certain demons have their version of 'transformation' too," Robin said, referring to Starfire's experience with Tameranian puberty. "It may be possible that Trigon is one of those demons, according to them."

"Do they not know? Dr. Hook told us they were experts!"

"Well, if Trigon's as bad as people say he is, then it's a wonder anyone survived to talk about him at all. Besides, unlike most demon lords, Trigon prefers to use agents instead doing things himself."

He continued. "Anyway, when a demon undergoes this 'transformation', it starts to gain its true power. According to Professor Giles, the powers a demon has before the transformation are nothing compared to what it would have after that. Raven's human side may help slow down the process, but otherwise…" his voice trailed off.

"Does that mean there is no way to help our friend?"

Robin shook his head. "I'm sorry, Starfire."

They sat there, in despaired silence, until Starfire asked, "What are you going to do?"

Robin was silent, considering his options, when he said, "I don't know. I'll try again, call everyone who may be able to help us; the Justice League, the Illuminati, the Priory of Sion, maybe even the American Ministry Of Magic." Then he looked up, and the look in his eyes frightened Starfire. "But that's only half the problem."

Starfire feared she knew what the other half was, and when Robin confirmed it, her heart froze with shock.

"The other half is Raven herself. If she can keep her powers under control, fine, but if she can't, then we would have no choice but to- to stop her."

"Robin, what are you saying? Raven is our friend!"

"We are the Teen Titans, Star!" he told her. "We don't have a choice."

Starfire stared at Robin in despair. She didn't know which made her feel worse: the fact that he was right, or the fact that she could not do anything about it.

(scene change)

Raven's first thought when she entered her mirror was: _This isn't Azerath._

She found herself in a small alcove in a cliff face of red rock. At least, the rock looked red, as red as the fiery orange-red of the sky above. She had just enough space to stand and sit, maybe move around a little, but from where she stood, she could see no way she could escape.

And she dearly wanted to escape.

Below her an army marched, an endless army. In its ranks, Raven could see soldiers from every plane of every Hell: cobra-headed minions of Seth mingling with infernal hellhounds, harpies flying alongside bat-winged demons. SS uniforms could be seen on the souls of Nazi soldiers marching alongside other souls with Israeli markings on them, who were in turn following the step of the turbaned souls in front of them. In the distance, mercifully hidden by shadow, were the outlines of much larger creatures…

But none of what Raven saw was as terrifying as what she saw leading the army. Towering above even the largest of the creatures was a muscular, bare-chested humanoid figure with white hair, red skin and two pairs of eyes.

Her father, Trigon.

Raven pressed herself against the rock. This wasn't a figment of her subconscious, she knew. The smell of sulphur, of burning flesh, the rough, hot feel of the wind, was too real to be ignored.

Suddenly, the army stopped. Trying to see why, Raven saw her father holding up his hand, and turning his head this way and that, as if he sensed-

His head turned towards her, and Raven felt an enormous pressure pressing down as Trigon's gaze bore down on her.

"Raven, my daughter. I'll see you soon."

And then everything went black.

Raven realized her eyes were still open, and she realized she was floating in a pitch black void-

"Boo," Legion said, his upside down head suddenly coming into view from above her.

Raven let out a short scream, but her fear only lasted a short while before she decided to start fighting back. "Azerath Metrion-"

"Oh please, my dear Corbin, let's be civil, shall we?" Legion said, as he floated into view, his body moving right side up.

"Civil? You're in my mind!" Raven spat at him.

"No, I'm not. Well, actually, Legion's not; I am," Legion said, before he literally melted into a shapeless red mass that turned into the red-cloaked Fear/Anger.

"I thought you'd be more comfortable seeing a familiar face," she said in Raven's own voice, without a trace of irony. "Oh come _on_, Raven, stop looking at me as if I too don't belong! In fact," she said, her face taking on a thoughtful look, "don't look at me at all."

Raven suddenly found herself facing the other way, Fear/Anger's mocking laughter behind her. "Surprised, Raven? Don't be! It was only a matter of time before I took control anyway!"

"You're behind this," Raven said angrily.

"Like, DUH! Listen, Raven, you can lock up the other emotions, and swallow the key, but not me. You try to put me under your thumb, I'll bite it! And trust me, there will be blood! But let's not talk about that, okay? Let's talk about more… pleasant matters."

She came up behind Raven and ran her hand up Raven's arm. "I betcha like this, don't you? Or at least, you'd like it if Blackfire did this, wouldn't you?" Whispering into Raven's ear, she said, "Well, here's the sad, sad truth, girl: she doesn't like you. In fact, you can say she _haaaaates_ you."

"That's a lie," Raven said, not caring about the tears she felt run down her cheeks.

"No,_ that's_ a lie," Fear/Anger said flippantly. "But what does it really matter anyway? You don't need her, you don't need anybody except me! Don't you see? You're more powerful than any one of those fools when I'm with you! In fact, soon you'll be powerful enough to rule the world! Forget Slade, or the Thanagarians, or the Imperium or whoever happens to be Earth's Enemy Of The Week! This whole world can be yours! Just add me!"

Raven paused. "And then?"

"Huh?"

"After I take over the world, then what?"

"Uh, I dunno, you rule, I guess. _We_ rule," Fear/Anger said smugly.

Raven paused, before saying, "No. No, we don't, do we?" Her eyes narrowed. "After we take over, Trigon will use me as a way for him and the armies of Hell to enter the mortal world, won't he?" Raven said, turning to Fear/Anger.

"Well… yeah, I left out that teensy weensy part. You're too smart for me, but-hey, you're looking at me! Who said you could look at me! I didn't say you could look… at… me…" Suddenly realizing what she had just said, Fear/Anger's two pairs of eyes widened. "Aw _fuck_."

"You let your guard down," was all Raven said.

Fear/Anger suddenly found herself in the middle of an empty white box, from where there seemed to be no exit. From the outside, Raven could hear her emotion's enraged pounding, along with her outraged screaming.

"You can't keep me in here forever, Raven! I will get out! It's only a matter of time! Raven! RAVEN!"

But Raven was gone.

(scene change)

Raven opened her eyes, and saw she was witting right where she was before she entered her mirror. Picking it up, Raven thought at first that she was hallucinating, that Fear/Anger had won, and that she had finally gone mad.

But she hadn't, and for the first time since Dawn came, Raven felt a glimmer of hope.

The mirror had 'healed' itself; the crack was gone. Raven knew better than to celebrate, though. Fear/Anger was right; it was only a matter of time.

Raven got up; she had to do something.

Now if she only knew what.

(scene change)

"Mr. Wolfe, we have finished the implanting procedures, and we are ready to begin accelerating the aging process on your command," the white suited scientist told Cassius Wolfe.

"Good work, doctor. You may proceed."

In the test chamber, Cassius watched a small group of technicians make the final adjustments in the aging beam mounted in the wall behind the creature nicknamed 'Gojira' by everyone involved. It had been a long road, full of risk, but seeing the creature laying on the ground below him, imagining the chaos, both physical and political that it would cause, and the power such chaos would undoubtedly give him made it all worthwhile.

"Beam's charged and ready to go, Mr. Wolfe," one of the assistants said over his intercom, while giving Cassius the thumbs up sign before he and his colleagues exited the room through the doors behind the beam.

A group of technicians in the control room high above on the other side of the test chamber began their work. "We will begin with an acceleration of ten percent of the target age," the white suited scientist said.

A blue stream of light issued from the beam into the lizard, waking it up. It screeched, "Perfectly normal, considering its age," the lead scientist said, before saying, "Very well, now that its woken up, increase the beam to full strength."

Then before the eyes of everyone watching, the creature visibly grew, its youthful screech changing into a deeper roar as it changed. Its eyes radiated intelligence, an intelligence that recognized that it was trapped, an intelligence that felt fear.

An intelligence that felt anger.

"Activate the implants," Cassius said over his own intercom. Despite his calm exterior, he was extremely anxious. There was a chance that the mind-control implants would not work. Cassius had done everything to maximise his chances for success. If only the beast would do the same…

It roared again. For one despairing, heart-stopping second, Cassius thought the implants did not work, that all his work so far had been for nothing.

And then, the beast settled down into a docile crouch, before straightening up again, its reptilian hands clenching and unclenching gently. One hand bunched itself up into a fist, and punched the palm of the other.

"I apologise for that, Mr. Wolfe," the head scientist said. "It appears your friend has a humourous streak."

Wearing a special helmet transmitting to the implants in the creature's brain, relaying not only the wearer's desires directly to the creature, but also allowing the wearer to see what the creature saw, Karl Mannheim smiled. "I couldn't resist, sir," he offered by way of sheepish explanation.

"Don't worry, Karl. If anything, this has been more than useful in showing me the power of the implants. Did you detect any of the problems you were worried about, Doctor?"

"No, Mr. Wolfe. It appears that the implants work perfectly, no matter the subject's size and age. Of course, we'll need more tests at different ages and sizes, but from what I've seen, it looks like we've got ourselves a winner, sir," the head scientist replied, his elation a tad more retrained than Karl's had been, but still present.

Cassius looked down at the creature in the chamber below, admiring its terrible symmetry, its fearsome majesty. He felt that familiar thrill of power course through his veins, that sense of superiority. No matter how many times he felt it, no matter how many times he felt his blood turn to fire, it never lost its lustre.

"Good work, gentlemen," he said, reluctantly returning to earth, "Good work. Doctor, how much longer before all your tests are done?"

"Well, considering how easily this one went, tomorrow night, maybe?"

"Very well then. Karl, command that beast to sleep, and prepare my men. Tomorrow night, Jump City becomes the world's largest test site."


	8. Tempest's Eye

**Chapter Eight: Tempest's Eye**

"It's not tofu," Beast Boy said, looking down at his breakfast.

"Yes it is," Cyborg insisted, his chef's hat on backwards, at least according to him.

"No it's not. This is not tofu."

"Beast Boy, here's the thing; if it looks like tofu, smells like tofu and tastes like tofu, then well whaddaya know? IT'S TOFU!"

"No it's not!"

"And why not?"

"Dude, last I heard, you don't _deep fry_ tofu!"

"Why not?"

"It's tofu!"

"It's vegetarian, ain't it?"

This argument between the two Titans was perhaps the reason they were to preoccupied to notice the silence between their other compatriots.

Robin and Starfire sat close together, perhaps a little closer than they normally did, as they looked across the table from Raven. Robin, like Starfire, had hardly got any sleep, and for similar reasons. All night he had been tossing and turning as he agonized about the decision to inform his team-mates about Raven, inform Raven that she might have to be… stopped for the good of the city, for the world, if need be.

He shook his head, trying to chase that thought from his head. How could he think such a thing?

And yet… He stole a look at Raven, who didn't seem to notice.

He had a job to do.

And he would do it the best he could.

If only it wouldn't hurt so much.

He looked at Starfire, and in her green eyes he saw his own thoughts mirrored.

Starfire knew Robin, knew him better than even the other Titans did, and if he was feeling even half the hurt she did…

Starfire returned her gaze to the food in front of her, but even had it been the most sumptuous of Tameranian banquets, she could not have brought herself to eat, so bad was the taste in her mouth.

On one hand, her royal upbringing recognized the necessity of what Robin may have to do. Starfire was far from stupid, contrary to what her sister might have thought, and she knew that no matter what Robin did, he only did what he thought what was necessary, and most of the time, he was right.

But maybe… maybe this wasn't one of those times. Starfire didn't want to believe it. Raven was her friend, their friend; she would never do anything to hurt them, would she?

It was so much simpler back on Tamaran…

To the casual observer, Raven may have seemed her normal self, her nose in a book, her breakfast on the table; perfectly normal. What scared Robin, and would have made a more than casual observer at least suspicious was that the breakfast was untouched and the book's pages unturned.

Not that Raven was unaware of how Robin and Starfire felt. She did not need to have her empathic powers to sense their fear. She did not need Batman's intelligence to know what they were thinking, or what they must have been thinking about doing- if their places had been reversed, she would do the same herself. The greater good came first, she did not need to be reminded of that. She did not need to tell her self again that it would not come to that, however.

But the thing she needed least of all was the fact as she sensed their fear, sensed their intentions, she felt an all too familiar thrill of power. Familiar, yet she had never felt it before.

She knew who had, however. Somehow, she knew.

Her father, Trigon.

Her eyes shut, as she quietly fought to keep that thrill from coursing through her again, but it was of no use. It electrified her spine, boiled her blood, and quickened her breath. For one terrifyingly wonderful second, in her mind's eye Raven saw Jump City aflame, and the screams of the dying and the frightened filled the air.

And somewhere behind them, slowly growing in volume, an unholy chorus screaming Raven's name again and again, with a collective voice that could only be described as metallic.

It was then that Raven found herself suspended in space, as she saw Earth covered in a reddish-orange glow as it too was enveloped by flame, a sight made all the more terrifying by the fact that in the background of her mind, the unholy chorus kept on shouting her name, but this time there was a not of discord among them, a faint, barely heard word that felt out of place. Raven strained to hear it, but it was too elusive, loud enough to be noticed, too soft to detect.

Soon, Raven found herself turning around in the endless void, and each of the stars she saw blinked out of existence for a moment before flashing back, but this time with the same brilliant fiery orange-red glow that outlined the charred Earth. Before Raven's eyes, the inky darkness of the Universe itself began to be replaced with a darker version of that orange-red radiance.

And as Raven felt the searing heat from the fire that was slowly but surely consuming the Universe, she felt, then heard the discordant word slowly grow louder and louder until there was no mistaking what it said.

"…Trigon!"

"Trigon!"

"_Trigon!"_

"**_Trigon!"_**

And in the background, she heard her voice laughing…

Raven suddenly found herself back where she was, her book in her hands, her uneaten breakfast on the table. Thankfully, her friends had not seemed to notice her… going; Beast Boy and Cyborg were still arguing about the difference between tofu and the deep fried junk one finds in Big Macs, while Robin and Starfire were lost in their own thoughts, although Raven doubted whether those thoughts were as terrifying as her own.

She rubbed her forehead; she wished she had someone to talk to-

"Where's Blackfire?" she asked.

(scene change)

Dawn had travelled from one end to another of the known Galaxy, so she was used to sleeping irregular hours. Despite that fact, it was still a somewhat drowsy Tameranian who woke up to the pounding on her ships door.

She managed to get as far as "What-" before Blackfire interrupted her.

"Listen, Dawn, let me tell you something. I was up half the frelling night wondering about why you turned me away, and how it was my fault, when guess what? I realized something: it wasn't my fault!" she shouted.

"What-"

"I thought you were dead! Did you hear me? I-thought-you-were-dead!" Blackfire said angrily, punctuating each word with a finger jabbed at Dawn.

"So I did what I had to do," she told her friend in a softer tone. "I got on with my life, what else could I do? I loved you, I missed you, and I mourned you, but if you expected me to go around the universe weeping and moaning every day of my life about how unfair it was you were taken from me and how much I wanted you back, you obviously didn't know me well enough. Just thought you should know," she finished off-handedly, flicking her hair and turning around.

It wasn't long before she felt Dawn's hand on her shoulder. "Is that what you wanted to tell me, Blackfire?"

"…Yes, yes it is."

"So… if- if you had known I was still alive, would you have come for me?"

"Of course," Blackfire whispered.

Time seemed to stand still. There was no sound to be heard save the distant echoes of a city waking up. Then

"So it's true what they say."

Blackfire smiled. "What do they say?"

"That you're a dilithium tongued criminal, able to talk her way out of any and all trouble, angry ex-lovers included."

"Hmm, only dilithium?" Blackfire asked, her back still to Dawn.

Dawn laughed. "Hey, they didn't hear what you just said. Give them a chance, will you?"

She turned her ex-mistress to face her, and saw her smile. "See, now that's the Blackfire I know."

"Oh, and what do you mean by that?" Blackfire pouted. "Is there some other woman calling herself Blackfire running around the Galaxy?"

"Well, I seem to recall a somewhat angry, weepy, bad tempered sulk in the vicinity of my ship last night."

"Oh, my dear, how many times must I tell you? It's called a 'mirror', there's nothing to be afraid of," Blackfire said, mock pity in her voice.

Dawn couldn't reply for a minute or two, she was laughing so hard, before calming down again as a thought hit her. "So… about us?" she asked, looking into Blackfire's eyes.

"I… I don't know," Blackfire admitted.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Just that-"

"It's Raven, isn't it?" Dawn asked flatly.

"No! No, of course not! It's just that, well…" Blackfire sighed. "The Guild is not going to let you go just because you found me. Sooner or later, you're going to have to get back to travelling the starlanes again…"

"So what? You can come with me, it'll be an adventure! Just you and me, travelling the stars, making lots and lots of money legally-well, most of the time," Dawn said mischievously.

Blackfire gave her a look both fond and sad. "I wish I could come with you, Dawn, I really do, but… I like it here," she said quietly.

At first Dawn looked bewildered and hurt, before she broke into a knowing smile. "Let me guess, you actually like being on the other side for once."

The look Blackfire shot back was pure poison.

"Oh my, Blackfire," Dawn said, relishing every moment. "Whatever will the criminal underworld say when they discover that the infamous Princess Blackfire has not only become a good person, but it –shock and horror!- actually enjoying it! Oooh, I feel faint," Dawn teased, holding a hand to her head in mock illness.

Blackfire scowled at her friend, until she too broke into a smile. "And why can't I enjoy being one of the good guys, and enjoy it, hmm? I'm Princess Blackfire, formerly of the Tameranian Empire, and I can enjoy anything I want to, when I want to!" she proclaimed.

It was then she noticed the look in her friend's eyes. "I hope you want this now, then," Dawn said.

Blackfire offered no resistance as Dawn's arms came around her, and pulled her close. "Well, do you?" Dawn asked softly, her breath warm on Blackfire's skin.

"What do you think?" Blackfire asked a moment before their lips touched.

It was everything Blackfire had remembered, and everything she forgot. It was a blissful oblivion that lasted for both an eternity and a moment.

All good things needs must come to an end though, and as Blackfire and Dawn's lips left each others', Blackfire let out a contented sigh.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Dawn asked after a while. "I'm starving."

At first, Blackfire was incredulous, but when she saw the look Dawn was giving her, she too broke into a mischievous smile, and soon, the two of them were giggling like idiots. Finally, after their little laughing fit was over, Blackfire looked at her lover and said, "I don't know; but my sister is a good cook. Let's go bug her."

"Blackfire?"

"Yes?"

"I know you like it here, but…?"

Blackfire paused. "I'll think about it," she answered.

"Thanks," Dawn replied. "That's all I needed to know."

Hand in hand, the two of them proceeded down the stairwell leading to the rest of the Titans Tower, neither of them noticing the end of a dark blue cape snagged on the bottom corner of the stairwell door.

(scene change)

"Raven? Raven, are you in there?" Cyborg asked through Raven's door.

"Go away," Raven said, in her typical neutral tones.

"I can't," Cyborg said. When he received no reply, he continued, "Rae, this is important."

Still no answer. Cyborg was debating asking again, or just moving out of the way of the door; it being smashed in his face again was not a prospect he liked thinking about, when it opened.

"What do you want?" Raven's voice asked out of the shadows near her bed.

Cyborg stepped in cautiously. Was it just him, or was Raven's room a bit gloomier than usual? "Rae?"

"What is it?" asked a dark shape on Raven's bed.

"It's-well, it's about you, Rae" he said. "Actually, it's what Robin said about you, er, I don't know how to say this, but-"

"But what?" Raven said, turning halfway to Cyborg. "What did Robin say about me? And why can't he tell me himself?"

Okay, this was getting dangerous. Bugout time. "Er, nothing, nothing, Rae, I can see you're not in the mood to talk, so, I'll be er, just er, um…"

He was about to make a run to the door when he heard Raven's voice say, "Cyborg, wait."

He turned around. He didn't want to, fearing what might happen to him, but he turned around anyway. After all, no matter what Robin said, Raven was his friend.

"Cyborg, I'm sorry if I sacred you," Raven told him, coming out of the shadows. Now that she faced him, Cyborg noticed that her eyes seemed a little puffy, and in her hands, she held what appeared to be her vanity mirror, cracked in several places.

"Raven? You okay?" As soon as he said it, he mentally slapped himself. No, she is definitely not okay, doofus!

"No, not really," Raven said. "Cyborg, what is it?"

His confidence returning, Cyborg said, "Well, the thing is, that Robin thinks you might be… dangerous."

"Go on."

"He said that if- if you ever lost control," Cyborg said, feeling more and more wretched with every word, "then we would have to-"

Raven held up a hand. "I understand, Cyborg. I'd do the same myself, if I was in your situation."

Cyborg sighed. "Thanks, Rae, although I'm still not okay with it."

Raven nodded. "We have responsibilities, Cyborg, responsibilities that have to come first."

"I know, Rae, it's just that this doesn't feel right, know what I mean?" He sighed again. "I wish Robin was the one telling you this; he'd be able to handle this a lot better."

"Where is Robin, anyway?"

"Last I saw, he had just finished arguing with Beast Boy about you, and was about to tell Blackfire-"

Raven's eyes opened wide with shock. "What?"

"Well, Blackfire had just come in with Dawn, and Robin- Rae? Raven?"

Raven had turned away from Cyborg, and had sat down on her bed, the only piece of intact furniture in the room.

"Raven?" Cyborg asked again. "Raven?"

Cyborg suddenly noticed something: The gloom seemed to deepen, and his sensors registered a steady drop in the ambient noise level- not unusual, in a broad sense, but what creeped Cyborg out was that it had dropped too low to be, well, 'too quiet'.

"Cyborg?" Raven asked, her voice breaking the eerie silence. "How do you feel about me?"

The surprise momentarily overwhelming his fear, Cyborg managed out a small "Wha-"

"How do you feel about me? Do you…" Raven asked, the question hanging in the air.

_Oh, I get it_, Cyborg thought. Now he had a problem; considering Raven's current state, maybe the 'I just don't feel that way about you, let's just be friends talk' might not go down the right way, especially for him; on the other hand, Raven was one of his closest friends, and maybe a bit of honesty on why it should remain that way was what she deserved.

_Yep_, he thought_, I'm definitely suicidal_.

"Rae, I know you and me've been through a lot together, but, well, I just don't look at you that way. No offence, though, I mean you are a pretty girl and all, but you're just not my type, you know?"

Having said that, Cyborg closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable. He just hoped Robin would be able to hear what would happen and rescue him in the nick of time.

"Cyborg?"

"Yes, Rae?"

"I wasn't talking about that."

"You weren't?"

"I just wanted to know, if- if I could trust you enough to talk to you about something- something personal."

"Oh," Cyborg said, feeling quite relieved (but a little deflated, to tell the truth). "Sure, Rae, you can talk to me, but aren't you sure you don't want Robin here? Or Starfire? Beast Boy? Blackfire even?"

Raven shook her head tiredly.

"Okay, Raven, I'll be here," Cyborg said, carefully sitting down beside her, "You go on and tell your Uncle Cyborg what's bugging you, 'kay?"

Raven had always held quiet scorn for the people who wrote to Agony Aunt columns in newspapers and magazines, thinking of them as people who just couldn't solve their own silly problems. Now, however, she understood them. "It's- it's about someone I know," she began hesitantly.

"O-kay, specifics would be kinda nice."

Raven sat quietly for a while, before answering, "Cyborg, would you hate me if I was different?'

Cyborg raised his eyebrow. "Rae, I'm a half robot black man. What was your question again? Besides, I already told you you can trust me, didn't I?"

Again, the silence. This time, it continued until Cyborg felt creeped out to the point where he felt he had to make an exit, when Raven replied, "I'm… I'm attracted to someone," Raven said, taking out a line from an agony aunt letter she read once.

Cyborg felt himself momentarily stunned, before curiosity jolted him out of his brief paralysis. Forget that stuff about SpongeBob being gay, _this_ was big, big news! "H'hey! Way to go Raven! Sheesh, you didn't have to go trash your room- or me, so long as we're on the subject! Look, it's really simple! You just go up to that person and tell him-"

"Her," Raven said, staring straight ahead.

"Yeah, tell her- WHAT!" Cyborg said. Within his cybernetic body, several circuits nearly fused together as Cyborg literally found himself shocked.

Silence once again pervaded the room, but this time Cyborg couldn't care less. Finally he said, "So… I guess this means Beast Boy's out of the question, then?"

Raven nodded.

"Okay, that leaves us with Starfire, Dawn, and- what was that?"

Raven looked at her mirror; the cracking noise had come from that. "Never mind."

"Never mind my butt, Rae! That's your mind mirror!" He placed his hand on Raven's shoulder, gentle concern in his voice. "Man, Raven, you should have told us before; we're your friends, we're here for you- you know that."

Raven looked at Cyborg, an almost overpowering feeling of friendship- no, kinship welling up within her. It was sometimes too easy to think of Cyborg as nothing more than a teenage mech junkie, but Raven knew better than that. Should have known better than that, actually. "Thank you, Cyborg."

Cyborg gave her a determined nod. "No problem Rae, but you've got to realize, you don't really know Dawn, and even if you did, she's kinda attached."

"It's not Dawn, Cyborg."

"You're not? Then who- Oh. Ah." Cyborg managed to say. Then, he managed to rally himself. "Well, so what? Yeah, so what?" he asked her, standing up. "You do what I told you to do: you go right up to Blackfire and tell her that you're –what did you say you were? Ah yes- _attracted_ to her, and that Dawn could just go packing! Don't worry, kiddo, I'll be right behind you," he finished enthusiastically.

"I can't," Raven said quietly.

"Why not? Listen, I got up last night to run some checks on the security system, and I managed to hear some really nasty stuff going on between them! As far's you're concerned, she's single!"

"Not anymore," Raven replied, after which she told Cyborg what she had seen that morning.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Cyborg asked, sitting down next to Raven again, having heard what she told him.

"I don't know, Cyborg."

She looked at Cyborg, her eyes haunted. "I don't know."


	9. And The Clock Chimed Eleven

**Chapter Nine: The Clock Chimed Eleven**

Cassius Wolfe sat back in his chair, considering his options, and smiled. This, this was good news indeed, no doubt about it. Now all that was left was the question about whether he wanted to take advantage of the situation, saying as much to the head scientist, who was standing in front of his table.

"I beg your pardon sir?" the head scientist asked incredulously, before he immediately backed down in the heat of Cassius's gaze. "My apologies, sir."

Cassius bore down on him for a few moments longer, cowing the man a little more, before he broke into a wide smile. "Don't apologise, Doctor. Never apologise, especially when you know that you're right, which, in this case, you are. Fear not, I'm as anxious to see this project off as soon as possible myself. Are you sure that we may proceed as ahead of schedule as you say we are?"

"But of course, sir. The implants are performing far beyond our expectations, sir. Contrary to what we previously thought, they work better as the creature ages and grows; in short, making it easier to control as it becomes more powerful. Even if this single creature does not perform as well as expected, we have enough stored genetic material to clone an army of them!"

Cassius's smile grew wider; the doctor was trying to hide it, but the fact that he was now as giddy as a schoolboy let loose in a candy shop was quite obvious to him. "As tempting a possibility as that might be, we still have to test the capabilities of this one. Are you sure we can move the schedule up so much?"

"With the creature's receptiveness to the implant procedure, as well as your protégé's speed at achieving total control faster than we had anticipated, testing the project's capabilities this morning has become a great deal more feasible, as I have said, sir."

"How long will it take for us to prepare?"

"An hour or two after you give the word, sir."

"Well then, it should follow that I give it now."

"Excellent, sir," Doctor Anton Sevarius said as he exited the room.

It was going to be a good day.

An absolutely_ wonderful _day

(scene change)

Beast Boy sat with his face in his hands, not believing, no, _refusing _to believe what he had just heard.

"Do you think I want it to happen?" Robin argued.

"Yeah, I do!" Beast Boy shouted at him.

"Beast Boy-" Starfire began.

"Shut up, Starfire!" Beast Boy said angrily. "You're as bad as he is!"

"You leave her out of this, Beast Boy! She's just trying to help!"

"Yeah, help beat up on Raven as soon as you ask her to!"

Dawn turned to Blackfire. "Is it always like this?"

Blackfire shook her head. "Not always, but it can get pretty exciting when it does," she said nonchalantly as she watched the three-way argument unfold. It was pretty obvious to Blackfire that at the way it was going it was best if she didn't get involved.

"I'll bet- wait hold on, my ship is receiving a transmission," Dawn said. "Be right back."

As Dawn walked back up the stairs to her ship, Blackfire turned her attention back to the argument, which seemed to follow a certain pattern: Beast Boy would shout at her, Robin would shout at him, and the process would repeat itself. Of course there were slight variations from time to time, but it mostly followed that pattern.

-_funny, all this fuss about a girl you don't really like_-

Blackfire shook her head. Where had that thought come from?

And why did it make her so uncomfortable?

Suddenly Dawn's hand grabbed her shoulder. "We need to talk," she said as she pulled Blackfire away from the shouting. "What is it?" Blackfire asked, as they stood at a window across from where the argument was still going strong.

"The thing is, Blackfire, I- I agree with what your friend Robin is saying."

"Yeah, so do I," Blackfire lied. "So what?"

"So I was wondering whether you would go through with it." She turned to Blackfire, and this time there was no mistaking the desperation in her eyes.

And neither was there no mistaking the shock in Blackfire's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Blackfire," Dawn said, looking down. "I didn't mean, that is- I just need to know how you really feel about her. I know we've been through all this before, Blackfire, but…"

Dawn sighed. "The thing is, I'll be leaving tonight."

"Tonight? But you just got here!"

"I know, but the Guild has just contacted me. Apparently one of their scout fleets ran into some trouble, and they need a new one. Guess who was one of those scouts they thought of first? They're willing to return the rest of my money for cutting my vacation short, of course," she finished bitterly.

"But you can still come back, right?" Blackfire said, trying hard not to show her desperation, and failing, as both she and Dawn were aware.

Dawn looked up, and Blackfire found her own eyes locked with Dawn's. "I'm not sure if I would want to," Dawn told her.

"What are you talking abou-"

"I just don't think it would be appropriate to come back to someone who loves another, that's all. I wouldn't want to intrude, after all."

"Hello, can't you see what's happening back there? There is a reason Beast Boy's defending Raven!"

"So? That does not tell me hezmana about how _she_ feels about _him_, does it? Or about how you feel about her, either!"

Suddenly, Blackfire found her hands being taken by Dawn's. "The point is, if you truly felt about me the way I want to think you do, then I wouldn't have to come back, because you would have come with me. Please, Blackfire," she implored, "come with me. I have a lot of money saved, trust me on this, and with your help, we'll make enough money for us to buy our way out of the Guild. And then… I don't know, but at least we'll be able to face it together."

"You make it sound so easy," Blackfire whispered. "What help could I be?"

"Blackfire, you know better than I do that the Guild does not care how you make money, just as long as we don't get caught." Her hands gripped Blackfire's even tighter as she continued, "Besides, Earth may be great, but it's one planet in an infinite Universe, a Universe we could see together."

Dawn's sky-blue eyes seemed to gaze all the way into Blackfire's soul as he asked, "So, Blackfire, what do you say? Just the two of us?" Her gaze seemed to become even more desperate as she added, "I just need to be sure, Blackfire."

Blackfire was about to answer when "QUIEEEET!" Cyborg shouted, having come in through the main doors and seeing the argument. "Geez, aren't you guys embarrassed? What would the Canadians think?"

"Canadians?" Beast Boy asked, momentarily thrown off his stride.

"Considering they probably _heard_ the three of you yellin' at each other, yeah, the Canadians!"

"Is Raven all right?" Blackfire blurted out.

Cyborg looked up at Blackfire, whose inadvertent question had also caused her to endure a very dirty look from Dawn. "Yeah, she's all right," Cyborg said, in a softer tone. "She just needs to be alone for a while. That includes you, Beast Boy."

"What did I do?"

"It ain't what you did; it's what you're going to do. Raven needs some alone time right now, and that means _alone_. She don't want anybody going in her room right now, trying to cheer her up or anything like that, she just need some time to think, you get me?"

"Yeah, we get you, Cyborg," Robin said, surprised by Cyborg's vehemence.

Cyborg looked at him a moment, then let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Rob, but you should've seen her in there. You think you're scared? You should look at her," he said, pointing down the corridor.

"Is there nothing we may do for her?" Starfire asked.

" 'Fraid not, Starfire. She even agreed with Rob's plan, that's how bad she's got it."

You'd have only noticed it if you were either specifically looking for it, or at least suspecting that it would be done; as Cyborg said "that's how bad she's got it," he glanced, perhaps involuntarily, at Blackfire. Blackfire never knew if Dawn managed to catch Cyborg's look as well, but the message to her was clear: _This is all your fault_.

_What do you expect me to do?_ Blackfire wanted to scream out at Cyborg. _Did you think I wanted this? _she wanted to add. That was when it hit her: didn't she? What was wrong? Didn't she have Dawn back? Didn't she have a chance to be free again?

So why did it feel so bad?

Why did it feel so…wrong?

Why didn't she want what she thought she always did?

Suddenly, Blackfire found her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Dawn tell Cyborg, "So what are you saying? We should just give up on your friend? Not even the Thanagarians could be that merciless!"

If the look on Cyborg's face was any indication, he was probably as surprised as Blackfire was. "What are you talking about, Dawn? I didn't say anything like-"

"Yeah, but your friend Robin did! But after all, it isn't as if she has people who care about her, does she?" With that remark, Dawn stormed off. Blackfire moved to follow her, glanced back at the group of stunned Titans, and followed Dawn out into the corridor.

(scene change)

"Okay, what's going on?" Blackfire said as she caught up with the departing Dawn in a corridor.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, still walking.

Blackfire threw her arms up in exasperation. "You seemed so fine up there on the rooftop, and suddenly just as soon as you come down here, you seem to lose it! Is it the air here?" Blackfire said sarcastically, taking a few exaggerated deep breaths. "Nope, that doesn't seem to be it. So what is the problem?"

Dawn looked at her, and then let out a weary breath as she stopped. "I'm desperate, Blackfire."

"Desperate?" Blackfire asked, an eyebrow raised.

Dawn gave her a wan smile. "Desperate, selfish, and jealous," she said, leaning against a wall. "Not a good combination, is it?"

"Can't say it is," Blackfire agreed, standing next to her.

Dawn turned to Blackfire, meeting her gaze. "Mind if I get to the point?"

"Should I?"

"I love you, Blackfire, and I always have," Dawn said, ignoring Blackfire's attempt at light humour, "and there's nothing I wouldn't give up to be with you."

"I don't know, the way you were acting just now, it seemed you thought your job in the Traders' Guild was more important than I was."

"It wasn't a question of my job," Dawn said, fire in her voice, "It was a question of whether I could bear the thought of having to- to share you with someone else, I guess," she continued.

"Share me?"

"Oh come on, you can't fool me," Dawn said. "You love her, don't you?"

Blackfire was about to say _What are you talking about? Of course not_, when she realized that Dawn was right. She did love Raven, and there was nothing either she or Dawn could do about it.

"And," Dawn continued, "considering what is happening, that all of this just seems to occur as soon as I come around, you've just realized that she might feel the same way about you too, don't you?"

Blackfire nodded, her eyes closed to stop the tears.

"Blackfire, look at me."

Blackfire looked up at her, looked up at the blue eyes she had missed so much, and still did in fact, which made it all the more painful.

"I love you Blackfire. You have, and always will be the most important thing in my life-"

"Don't say that," Blackfire whispered.

"I just thought that you felt the same way towards me," Dawn continued, seemingly deaf to Blackfire's words, "I wish you did. But when I saw the connection that you and Raven shared, even when you were apart, I became jealous." Her smile grew even more bitter. "To tell the truth, I wanted to steal you from her, can you believe it?"

"But, but Dawn, I… I…"

Dawn nodded. "See? You don't even know whether you mean it anymore."

"What do you want from me?" Blackfire said, still whispering, her head turned downwards.

"A simple yes or no, that's all. Blackfire, I need to know, when I leave tonight, will you come with me?"

Blackfire looked up, looked into Dawn's eyes, and knew she couldn't lie. She wouldn't lie.

"No," she whispered. "I can't. I'm sorry."

Dawn shook her head. "Don't be. At least now I know where we stand."

"I'm sorry," Blackfire whispered again.

"I told you, don't be. Blackfire, you have always been the most important aspect of my life, and part of that means that any life spent with you would be meaningless if you weren't happy. If I took you away from here, from everyone you know- and love," Dawn said with some difficulty, "then what would be the point? How could I make you happy if I took away the only part of your life that could do that?"

Seeing the look on Blackfire's face, Dawn went on, "I will admit, Blackfire, I'm not too happy about this to say the least," she said, with a sad smile, "but… well, what can I say? People do crazy things when they're in love."

Blackfire said nothing, instead choosing to catch her ex-lover in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Dawn," she said.

"I didn't say you were entirely off the hook, Blackfire my dear."

"What do you mean?" Blackfire asked, suddenly (and inexplicably) wary.

"Before I leave tonight, assuming nothing comes up," Dawn said, "I'd like us to have some private time together- oh no, nothing like that," she said, as Blackfire's eyes opened to the size of small plates, "I just want us to spend some time together, you know, like we did that night in your father's garden? For old times' sake?"

"Private time, you say?" Blackfire asked coyly.

"Yes, private time," Dawn said. "No Titans, no tourists, nobody but us. Us, the stars, and our dreams."

" 'Us, the stars, and our dreams'? Where did you get that horrible poetry from?" Blackfire asked, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from her soul.

"Hey, it's the best I could come up with on such short notice," Dawn replied, also smiling. "Look on the bright side: at least it isn't Vogon," she said, referring to the only race in the Galaxy that used its poetry as a torture device.

And so it was that with a mixture of relief and mirth, the two of them set off to go back to the other Titans when, turning a passage, they bumped into a very stunned Robin, his mouth wide open in surprise.

(scene change)

Within a secret Wolfe Conglomerate laboratory, the most elite, most highly trusted members of its research divisions hustled and bustled, some of them checking parameters and charts, some of them monitoring various readouts, while others still hacked into vital security systems, all of them working doubletime to ensure the success of the project at hand.

All save one, but not for lack of enthusiasm.

"_Sie faule Schweine_," Karl said in a snarling whisper, "_Schnell!_"

"Calm down, Mr. Mannheim," Dr Sevarius said, at a console next to the helmeted Karl. "We do not want to attract undue attention to ourselves."

At that moment, a large truck and a van wove their way slowly through the late morning Jump City traffic. Both of them didn't display any markings that showed them as being the property of the Wolfe Conglomerate, neither did any of them have anything in their outward appearance to indicate the heavy armour plating they had been outfitted with.

"This the place?" the truck's driver asked over the intercom to the van's driver, as they pulled into an area full of abandoned, dilapidated buildings.

"Looks like it."

"Alright. Let's just drop off what we have to and go. This whole thing gives me the creeps."

"You mean they didn't tell you anything too?"

"Nope," the van's driver said, getting out.

"Geez, you'd think they'd trust us," the truck driver said, pressing a few buttons on his truck, activating its auto-unload equipment.

"Yeah, well, as long as they keep on paying us what they do, they can sell bioweapons to Al-Qaeda for all I care," the van's driver said to his friend, as he activated his own vehicle's auto unload.

The two of them watched as two silver rectangular crates, one much larger than the other, were unloaded, and then they began the aligning process the two of them were asked to do, moving the crates until the two crates were touching end to end.

"Hey, wait, you did it wrong," the truck's driver said.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"You see this part her? This hole? Remember what the boss said?" the truck driver said, indicating the hole in the end of his own bigger crate. "Hole to hole."

The van driver snickered. "Man, what I'd give to see that."

"Oh for… Get your mind out of the gutter, willya?"

"Queer."

Having managed to manoeuvre the crates into the correct position, the two of them were in the middle of returning to their vehicles when the van driver fell forward.

"Watch your step, man- what the hell?" the truck driver said when he saw the blood spatter from the bullet his friend took in the head. He turned, and ran for his truck.

He managed to take three strides before everything went black.

_I'm getting sloppy_, the assassin thought to himself in disgust, as he stepped out of the shadows and walked toward the two vehicles. His instructions were clear: kill the two drivers, but leave the crates untouched. His money would be in a suitcase underneath the truck; and sure enough, there it was.

For a moment he wondered about who his employers were, why they wanted these two bozos killed, and what was inside those crates that made them so damn important. And then, as always, he dismissed those thoughts. He had not survived as long as he did in his work by being curious.

As he opened the suitcase, a series of small holes in the thick handle opened up, sending small hypodermic needles up through the assassin's gloves, and penetrating his skin. The assassin quickly snatched his hand off the suitcase with a curse. He looked at his hand, saw that some of the needles had become embedded in his skin, and that was when everything disappeared into darkness as he fell forward.

The last thing the Wolfe Conglomerate needed were witnesses.


	10. Fear And Lizards In Jump City

**Chapter Ten: Fear And Lizards In Jump City**

"Um, how long have you been standing there?" Blackfire asked.

Robin did not reply. Instead, still staring at them, his mouth still agape, he pointed at Blackfire, and then with the thumb of his other hand, pointed behind him.

"Is-is he alright?" Dawn asked.

"He won't be if he keeps on doing this. Hey, Robin! Stop acting like Beast Boy!"

That seemed to do the trick. "S-sorry, Blackfire," Robin stammered, before his brain finally moved up to mental speed and he continued, "but how else did you expect me to act?"

"Oh, I don't know, like the leader of the Titans would?" Blackfire snapped.

"Blackfire, don't be so rough on him," Dawn said.

"You know what?You're right- I have to be rougher," Blackfire said.

"Blackfire, I wasn't eavesdropping," Robin told her, seeing the look on her face. "I came here to try find out what it was you two were fighting about, and to see if I could help."

"I don't see how it could have been any of your business, but now that you're here, help," Blackfire said, still a bit flustered, while behind her Dawn shook her head, smiling.

"First, I don't think there's anything else I could do to help, and second," he said, placing his hand on Blackfire's shoulder, "I'm really happy for you, Blackfire. Sorry, Dawn," he continued, taking his hand off Blackfire's shoulder and offering it to Dawn.

"Don't be," Dawn said, taking his hand. "Now that I don't have this crazy trog virtually looking over my shoulder everywhere I go, I can get on with my life, and she can get on with hers," Dawn finished, showing none of the rancour both Blackfire and Robin expected to see.

"Crazy trog?" Blackfire asked.

"You must be, to give up a lucrative life of crime for this," Dawn quipped.

"What can I say, the fringe benefits are great."

Robin laughed. "I don't think Raven'll be too happy if she heard you two." Then his face fell. "I just remembered someone else who isn't going to be happy."

"Who?" Dawn asked.

"Beast Boy."

"…Oh," Blackfire said. "I'd had forgot about him."

"Come on, it can't be that bad, could it?" Dawn asked. The looks Robin and Blackfire gave her were all the answer she needed. "Okay, so it could," she muttered to herself.

(scene change)

"Could it?" Starfire asked, as stormclouds gathered outside the Tower.

"I don't think it's that bad," Cyborg replied. _At least, not that kind of bad,_ he thought to himself.

"Yeah, Star, come on! Look, don't take this the wrong way, but if I had you for a girlfriend, why would I want to be with Blackfire?"

"But what if it is true? What if the reason Robin has been so moody was because he was in love with my sister and not me?" Starfire lamented.

"Star, I was just joking when I said that!" Beast Boy said, belatedly regretting what he thought was an offhand remark.

As soon as Dawn and Blackfire had left, speculation regarding what caused Dawn's outburst had driven the already harassed Robin to investigate, removing the only presence who could possibly keep what may have been two of the most volatile Titans in check.

"Yes, but what if it was not a joke? What if it was a joke that turned out to be true, except you did not know it to be true when you said it was not true and only a joke-"

"Starfire, you're not making any sense!" Beast Boy said.

"I am making perfect sense! And so are you!"

"I told you Star, I-was-just-joking!"

In Cyborg's defence, he was trying his best to keep things under control.

"Alright you two, THAT'S ENOUGH!" he said, sounding eerily like Robin. "Now hush up before you make me really mad!"

There was a small silence before Beast Boy asked, "'Hush up'?"

"Yeah, 'Hush up'. You gotta problem with that?"

The other two Titans nodded hurriedly.

"Good."

"What's good?" Raven asked, coming in.

Turning to look at her, Beast Boy found himself shocked to see how haggard she looked, while Starfire involuntarily backed away. "Raven?" he whispered. "What happened to you?"

Looking at her like this, he wished it were simpler, that it was some monster or mind control magic that was making Raven go through all of this; instead, he faced the unbearable fact that he couldn't do anything about it. At least he could fight a monster or magic- he may not have been able to win, but at least he would have been able to do _something_.

He wanted to say something, anything to ease Raven's pain, but no matter what he thought of saying, it left him feeling more and more wretched. It was all he could do to ask her "W-what's up, Raven? Need any help?"

"No thanks, Beast Boy," Raven said, the weariness in her voice only managing to cut him deeper than her appearance did. "I'm okay-"

"No Raven, you are most definitely not 'okay'" Starfire said, overcome with shame after her momentary cowardice, "Please, you must let us help you!"

"Listen to her, Raven!" Beast Boy said, before he could stop himself. Raven stopped, and for one moment, the other three Titans present there thought she was going to unleash another maelstrom of psychic energy.

Then she sighed. "I'm okay- at least, okay enough," she said. "I just came up here to see what the problem was."

"We were that loud?" Cyborg asked, bewildered.

"Not physically; I could feel your emotions from downstairs," Raven offered by way of explanation, and immediately regretted it. Had her mind not been a battered wreck, she would have chosen her words more carefully. As it was, she felt her inadvertent honesty send shock coursing through the bloodstreams of her three friends, but for different reasons.

Starfire found herself being scared not of Raven's powers, for she knew that deep down inside, Raven was their friend, and would never hurt them, no matter what. What both scared and shamed Starfire was the thought that Raven had sensed the fear Starfire felt toward her. Second only to Robin, Raven was Starfire's best friend, and the thought of losing Raven's friendship…

Having had known Raven for so long, Cyborg thought he pretty well knew everything that Raven could or couldn't do, but considering what she had just said, he hadn't even begun to scratch the surface. Of course, this sudden ability to read minds from a floor or two below them might have been caused by this 'demonic maturity' thing, as Robin had called it- like that made it any better.

Beast Boy was terrified that Raven had felt not just his anger, but _why_ he was angry. How would she feel about him? Will she like him? Hate him? Just 'cos he loved her didn't mean she loved him back. It would be great if she said, "Yeah, BB, I like you too," but what if she said "I'm going to east your SOUL!" or something like that like blasting him with mental energy or tearing him to itty bitty bits like that the aliens in that movie he saw…

However, it could be said that the most frightened person in the room was Raven herself, frightened not only of the magnitude, but also the capabilities of her powers. It used to be that she could only detect emotions, but now not only could she sense them from a distance, she could read minds. And to make matters worse, the people whom she regarded as her family was now afraid of her. It didn't matter that the fear was as alien to them as it was to her, it only mattered that they were afraid.

"Raven? Raven!" Beast Boy said as he watched the Azerath crumple to the ground. "Okay, that's it, you're really not okay," he said as he picked her up, his fear gone, replaced by a sudden wave of kindness mixed with pity.

"I am okay," Raven insisted. Apparently she either tired herself out trying to create a mental block, or her own power was such that even trying to block it was a monumental effort. Both were disturbing possibilities.

As Beast Boy helped her up, Raven assessed her situation. As far as she could tell, her mind reading powers had been successfully blocked, and her empathic capabilities, while still present, were not as sensitive as before-

"What's wrong, Raven?" Beast Boy asked, as Raven gasped. "What are you looking…at…" he trailed off, when he turned to the window Raven was looking out of, behind Cyborg and Starfire, whose jaws also dropped when they saw what their two friends were looking at.

As fate would have it, it was at that moment that Robin entered, Blackfire and Dawn in tow. They had planned to tell the other Titans only that Dawn was leaving that night, not she and Blackfire would like to have a little alone time beforehand ("Don't worry," Dawn assured Robin, "Raven won't even notice we've been gone."), or what Robin privately thought of as the Blackfire/Raven Affair, at least not yet.

"Hey guys- Raven?" Robin said, startled. When did she come up here? Turning to his side, he saw that both Blackfire and Dawn looked like they were wondering the same thing.

And then something behind them caught his eye, and his jaw dropped. Wondering what all the fuss was about, Blackfire also feeling a little miffed that she wasn't the centre of attention, she and Dawn turned to see what was behind them.

_Oh, that why. Now I've definitely seen everything_, Blackfire thought in shock.

Outside the window, a gigantic reptilian beast towered over the city, and as the Titans watched, it grew even larger, enveloped in a strange blue glow.

"_Biiiig_ lizard," Cyborg said dumbly.

"Very big lizard," Beast Boy confirmed.

It was then that some tortured circuit in Robin's hurried patch job of a temporary receiver finally managed to pass a signal through, sounding the alarm.

(scene change)

"I'm going, and you can't stop me," Dawn insisted in the Tower a few minutes before.

"Watch me," Blackfire said. What was she thinking? Couldn't she see that this would make things worse between her and Raven?

Or was that what she was trying to do? A 'torched soil' tactic?

"Have you seen the size of that thing? You're going to need all the help you can get!"

Blackfire was about to reply, when Raven spoke up, "She's right," Raven said wearily. "You can't fight it without her help- or mine," she finished.

"Raven, you can't be serious," Beast Boy protested, "But you-"

"I what?" Raven asked testily.

At first Beast Boy looked like he was going to back off, but his feelings for Raven apparently won out. "You can't go; at least, not like this! You'll get yourself k- I mean, you could hurt yourself, or something," he said.

At first, Raven was silent, but when she did speak, it was with a familiar, welcome strength that the other Titans thought was lost. "I know," she said, "But I am not going to sit here and do nothing while you risk your lives."

"But if you come along, you might end up hurting someone else," Robin said, to shocked looks from the other Titans.

"People are going to get hurt anyway whether I help them or not, Robin," Raven said, looking him in the eye. "Please, I want to help," she whispered.

Robin stood there, holding her gaze. Then he gave a small nod, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. "So, you're sure you can handle yourself?"

"Yes, Robin, I'm sure."

"…Alright, if you say so," he said, sounding a great deal surer than he actually was.

"Alright, okay, everything's fine now," Beast Boy said, "Can we just go? Or have you forgotten THAT?" he said, pointing out the window.

(scene change)

"You guys okay up there?" Robin's voice crackled over the intercom.

"As long as it doesn't rain while we're up here," Blackfire grumbled. "If it does, I'll make sure you'll be the first one we tell about it," she added darkly.

Normally, Raven would have been put off by what Blackfire said, but this time, she was more than willing to let it slide. Sometimes she forgot just how short a time Blackfire had spent on Earth, and how, despite her apparent ease in fitting in with her fellow Titans, sometimes fell back on old habits.

For instance, anger or sarcasm to hide any sign that maybe she wasn't as 'in control' as she would have liked to have been.

Raven didn't need her increasingly volatile mental powers to see that Blackfire was nervous about being alone up here with her, while Dawn and Starfire flew along another vector, but it wasn't exactly the sort of discomfort that Raven had expected, especially when combined with the relief she sensed coming from Blackfire when she had entered earlier with Dawn and Robin, before she had put up her mental shield…

Raven wondered for a moment if raising the shield was the right thing to do; it would really help if she knew what Blackfire was thinking right now.

Every one of Blackfire's thoughts open to her.

Every aspect of Blackfire's personality open to her.

To read-

-_TO CONTROL_-

Raven shut her eyes tightly, trying to purge the thoughts that had suddenly flooded her mind. Where had those- never mind, she knew. Looks like those mental barriers she had erected weren't as strong as she had tried to make them.

Or her dark side was not as trapped as she had thought it had been.

_-CONTROL HER TAKE HER MAKE HER YOUR OWN IT'S SO EASY SO EASY DO IT-_

Raven gasped and eyes shut, held her head in her hands, not only trying to clear her mind, but also to try soothe some of the blinding pain that had shot through her head. She didn't even realize that Blackfire had stopped her in mid-flight until she heard Blackfire speak.

"Raven-"

"I'm all right," Raven replied before Blackfire could say anything. "Come on, we have a-"

"You're not going anywhere," Blackfire warned. "Except back to the Tower."

"Do you see that?" Raven asked, pointing to the gigantic lizard rampaging through the city. "Good. Let's go," she said.

"Not this side of the hells, Raven; I'll-"

Suddenly, Raven placed her hand on Blackfire's cheek. "I'm alright," she said slowly and deliberately. "Trust me. You do trust me, right?" she asked, a strange mixture of hope and uncertainty in her voice.

"…Yes."

"Good, let's go."

(scene change)

"So far, so good, sir," one technician said, monitoring his console. "No sign of the Titans yet."

"I suggest you reconsider that opinion," Dr. Sevarius warned, in his characteristic oily tones, "The fact that we haven't seen any response by the Titans means that they are up to something. Not that they could do anything to stop Gojira, of course, but they would prove unwanted nuisances."

"The keyword here being 'nuisances', Doctor," Cassius said, his confidence evident. "And how are you doing, Karl?" he asked, turning to his assistant.

"The good Doctor Sevarius worries too much," Karl said, his face hidden by the mind-control helmet he was wearing. "He should try putting this helmet on before he starts shooting off at his mouth."

"You insolent little-"

"Come now, Doctor, are you going to let a simple schoolyard taunt like that distract from what is essentially, your victory?" Cassius said. In truth, he felt that Sevarius existed only as a facilitator, someone important, but not essential; had Cassius not found him, he had a team of scientists ready to take his place. It was just that Sevarius expedited the process. He just had to make sure Sevarius's overinflated ego didn't become a threat.

This was his victory. Not Sevarius's, not Karl's not even Gojira's. This victory belonged to one man, and one man only, he thought, as he mused, watching the video feedback.

Cassius Wolfe.

And he would make sure no-one here forgot it, one way or another.

"Sir? It appears that the Titans have arrived," one technician said.

"I knew it," Sevarius said, revelling in his small triumph. "Wonder what took them so long?"

"I think you should apply your considerable intelligence to whatever they might come up with," Karl said, a hint of annoyance tainting his confident voice. Whether it was annoyance with the Titans or with Sevarius, no-one ever knew. "Especially that witch, or the clockwork Negro."

"Be careful Karl, your upbringing's showing," Sevarius bit back.

"And yet he raises valid points," Cassius pointed out. "Our intelligence indicates that this 'Raven' possesses powers capable of negating our mind control, while the Cyborg's attachments include heavy energy weaponry. Are you sure this creature may be unharmed by either of these?"

"Don't worry, sir. In my varied career, I've often had need of magical... assistance. The warlocks I consulted assure me that the charms they had placed upon the mind control equipment would be more than enough to withstand any and all mental assaults. Even if she had the help of that shapeshifter from the Justice League, she would do no more than give Karl a slight headache. As for the 'clockwork Negro', as Mr. Mannheim so aptly puts it, tests have proven that the Gojira's hide is more than thick enough to resist it. A few minor burns, no more."

He turned his attention to the same viewscreen that had caught Cassius's. "Don't worry, comrades. The Titans are formidable to be sure, but at the heart of the matter they are children, just children."


	11. Clear And Present Danger

**Chapter Eleven: Clear And Present Danger**

Beast Boy thought he had a good idea of the creature's size, seeing it from the Tower.

But that was before he came face-to-face-

No, that wasn't right. Face-to-toe was more like it, he thought numbly as he looked upwards, mesmerised. In front of him was a reptilian behemoth at least thirty storeys tall, dwarfing many of the buildings near it, while behind it were the ruins of most of the city's commercial sector. As he watched, the lizard took a swipe at a nearby building, sending pieces of broken metal and six-foot shards of broken glass flying down towards-

He let out an "Oof!" as Robin seized him from behind, both of them narrowly avoiding a jagged piece of steel that embedded itself in the tarmac where Beast Boy stood just moments before.

"Beast Boy, what did you think you were doing!" Robin said as they sped away on the R-cycle, Robin placing Beast Boy on the back.

"Huh? What?" Beast Boy asked, still somewhat dazed. Then, regaining his senses, he turned and pointed at the beast. "Do you see the size of that thing? Huh? Do you! It's HUGE!"

"I noticed that, Beast Boy," Robin said irritably, skidding to a halt in front of a pile of rubble. "So why aren't you doing something?"

"Look man, I can do T-Rexes, elephants and giant whales, but I can't do that!" he said, pointing at the creature. "I have my limits, Robin!"

Robin was about to reply, when the sound of a rain of blue and green starbolts impacting upon the creature's skin interrupted him.

Looking upward through the Godzilla's eyes, Karl saw both Starfire and Dawn heading towards him. From outside the helmet, he heard Sevarius say "Minor burns, I assure you sir." Not trusting the doctor, he looked down at his reptilian body.

_Looks like the old fool's right_, he thought. Looking back towards the incoming Tameranians, he nonchalantly willed the Godzilla's next move.

"Starfire! Watch out!" Robin shouted, even though he knew from this distance Starfire could not hear him, as he realized what was about to happen.

Clearly, Dawn must have as well, as she began to fly out of the way, but either she didn't warn Starfire or her warning went unheard, for in the next moment, the beast's executed a 180-degree turn, swiping Starfire with its tail and sending her careering through a group of tall office buildings.

"Hey! Where're you going!" Beast Boy shouted as Robin sped off on his bike in Starfire's direction; not that Robin was listening, as he followed Starfire's crash trajectory through several buildings, eventually coming to a stop as she smashed into the corner of an office building and fell. Getting off his bike, he rushed to catch Starfire.

As Starfire fell into his arms, Robin realized to late that he had underestimated the effect the fall's acceleration would have had on Starfire's impact, and it was with that realization that he braced himself for the sickening crunch and excruciating pain that would follow.

Kneeling on the ground, trying to ignore the pain in his ruined arms, Robin saw Starfire's eyes flutter. "Star… Starfire," he gasped, "Are you all right?"

"Do not worry, Robin I- Robin! Your arms! You are hurt!" she exclaimed, noticing his injuries.

"Nothing a little rest would hurt," Robin said, trying to sound assured, "At least you're…okay," he trailed off, as a massive dark shadow fell over them, the beast having found them.

"Robin?" Starfire whispered.

"Yes, Starfire?"

Starfire opened her mouth to speak, but apparently decided actions spoke louder than words as she closed her eyes and buried her face in Robin's chest, as their serpentine doom approached. Robin tried to place his arms around her, but considering the pain and the fact that his arms were inoperative from the elbow down, there wasn't much he could do.

But that didn't matter to either of them, just the fact that at the end, they would be together. It wouldn't have surprised them to know that they both had the same regrets: That they had not spent enough time together, that they would not have been around to help their friends before they-

"Arrgh!" Karl screamed as a blue flash of light partially blinded him, and by extension, the Godzilla. But the lizard was resilient, and it was less than a second that the blindness began to clear, and he was at least able to see what manner of fool had the gall to oppose the Godzilla, not caring about the green pterodactyl that had swooped down and picked up the disabled Robin and somewhat woozy Starfire.

"Booya," Cyborg whispered as he blew the smoke from his laser cannon. After all, it wasn't every day that you shoot a 30 storey lizard dead in the eye. But his bravado soon evaporated when he noticed the creature get up and stare back at him, with no apparent damage save to its (or rather, Karl's) pride.

It ran to Cyborg with far more speed and grace than its size belied. Cyborg tried to get into the T-Car, even though he knew he wouldn't have enough time to get away before the lizard's open jaws, already roaring, closed around him.

"You're finished," Karl whispered as he willed the Godzilla's jaws open, just before a POPTV billboard enveloped in dark energy slammed into his/Godzilla's face. Now fully enraged, Karl looked up to see where this newest attack had come from, just in time to see Blackfire heading straight towards him, starbolts blazing.

Roaring wildly, the beast raised its head and snapped at Blackfire with the same deceptive speed that Cyborg had almost found out too late, and it was only a split-second reflex on Blackfire's part that saved her life.

Behind her, Raven saw the beast preparing to take another bite at Blackfire. She felt something nagging at her mind, but dismissed it as another attempt by her emotions (or rather, _emotion_) to break out, as she encased another pile of masonry in mental energy and hurled at the beast.

But despite the fact that Raven threw what must have been at least half a ton of broken masonry at it, the creature got off the ground, again seemingly without any serious injuries. It was at that moment from within the mind control helmet that Karl Mannheim swore, much to Dr. Sevarius's amusement. "A few children causing you trouble, Mr. Mannheim?"

"Hardly," the assistant snarled, "but they are-proving-annoying," he said, as he willed the Godzilla to swat-

-Beast Boy in pterodactyl form, weaving in and out of the creature's arms and teeth as he and Dawn did their best to, at the very least, distract it from its rampage. At first he had tried to take on the form of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, but when he saw that the tallest he could get was around half the height of the giant lizard's hip, he decided the best course of action was to take to the skies.

Now, he was seriously beginning to regret that decision, seeing the massive jaws open for another bite, before a blue starbolt struck the back of the creature's throat, snapping it shut so close to Beast Boy he felt the rush of foul wind as the teeth clamped shut, a split second before Dawn pulled him out of the way.

"Close one there," Dawn said, as the two of them flew away.

"No kidding," Beast Boy agreed. "Thanks."

"No problem, but we sure could have used a little more help. Where're the rest of your friends?" she asked, her eyes scanning the horizon.

As if in answer, a blue laser shot out from the T-Car, Cyborg driving it like a medieval knight charging at a dragon.

"Well, there's Cyborg," Beast Boy said. "Raven's with Robin and Starfire, and Blackfire-"

"Hey you two, watcha doing?" Blackfire asked nonchalantly, flying up beside them.

"Waiting for you," Dawn answered just as flippantly. "And now that you are," she added, the look of anticipation on her face almost demonic, "I think it's time for a little fun, don't you think?"

It was clear that Blackfire didn't think so. "Are you crazy? Shouldn't we wait for backup?"

"No time! Come on!" Dawn said, leaving Beast Boy in the air, and charging towards the creature.

Blackfire hesitated a moment, then turned to the hovering Beast Boy. "Beast Boy, go find Raven and my sister; tell them we'll need some help here," before she too charged at the monster.

Beast Boy wasted no time. He flew across the massed piles of rubble, trying to ignore the remains of once proud buildings, or what was buried beneath them- no, he wouldn't think about that. Just find Raven, find Robin, find Starfire. Blackfire needed backup, yeah, that was it.

He just wished that his sense of smell wasn't so acute.

(scene change)

"That's the best I can do for now," Raven said. She had received a transmission from a very distressed Starfire a few minutes before, and after asking Beast Boy, Cyborg and Dawn to do their best against the giant lizard, found her friends outside the already overcrowded hospital; Robin with both arms broken and Starfire apologizing profusely, tears running down her cheeks.

Now, she had done all she could, which wasn't much, unfortunately. If she did try to do more, she would need to use more power.

And deep within her, she knew that if she gambled with her unstable powers and lost, she would prove something far more terrible than any giant lizard.

"Raven! Starfire!" Beast Boy shouted breathlessly as he arrived. "Blackfire needs your help-"

The sound of another falling building blocked out what Beast Boy wanted to say. However, that didn't really matter, at least for Raven, who took off almost as instantly as Beast Boy said Blackfire's name.

"That was fast," Beast Boy said to himself, a shadow of suspicion arising within him before he mentally shrugged it off.

"Beast Boy, I cannot leave Robin alone," Starfire protested.

"Don't worry, Star, I'll be alright, the doctors will take care of it," Robin said.

"That does not matter! I wish to stay here with you!"

"Starfire-"

Starfire had had enough. "Robin, you said that we have our responsibilities to the city, but what about my responsibilities to _you_?"

"Star, we've been through this-"

"No we haven't!" Starfire shouted. "Please, Robin, I do not wish to argue," she whispered, placing a finger on Robin's lips.

Looking at them, Beast Boy felt a pang of envy as he wondered whether he and Raven would ever have that kind of relationship. "I… I better go," he said, as he turned into an eagle and flew off.

(scene change)

"We have to lead it away from the buildings!" Cyborg shouted over his communicator as he fired again and again at the creature.

_Easier said than done_, Blackfire thought as she ducked under yet another swipe by the huge claws; it was almost as if instead of the random destruction someone could expect from an angry animal, the creature was deliberately targeting buildings.

Suddenly, Blackfire felt herself hit from behind, and slammed downward into the pavement below. As she groggily tried to get up, she saw a dark shadow falling over her, and looked up, finding to her horror that the a large top section of the building next to her was falling straight toward her.

Raven flew up just in time to see Blackfire face certain death. "Blackfire!" she screamed.

There was only one thing she could do, one way to save Blackfire.

And damn the consequences.

She brought down all her carefully prepared mental defences crashing down in an instant, and was barely prepared for the excruciatingly painful release of her constrained mental energies, and it was more a matter of luck rather than skill that allowed her to gain control of them long enough to do what she had to do.

A mere few inches from Blackfire's upraised arm, the falling masonry was encased in dark energy, and subsequently flung toward the beast, this time actually having some effect, sending the giant creature staggering backwards.

"You do know I could have handled that myself, don't you Raven-" Blackfire started to say, but when she saw Raven in the air, head held in her hands, all thoughts of jokes stopped. "Raven?" Blackfire asked, flying to her friend.

"Someone's controlling it, Blackfire," Raven gasped, telling Blackfire what she had sensed when she had let down her defences. "You've got to stop them, it's the only way."

"No," Blackfire said. "_You've_ got to stop them."

"Blackfire, I can't!"

"Well, what do you expect us to do?" Blackfire shouted. She placed her arms on Raven's shoulders- "Frell, you're cold!" she said, recoiling in shock.

Raven looked at the battlefield, where Starfire and Beast Boy had finally rejoined the battle alongside Cyborg and Dawn. "I want to help," she whispered. "But if I stay, I'll be endangering all of us," she said, more to herself than to Blackfire.

The rogue Tameranian placed her arms around Raven. "Raven, look at me," she said, trying to ignore the burning cold she felt. "I don't know what you're capable of, but I do know that if you can't keep running from- from trouble," she said lamely. "You taught me that, remember?" she finished, whispering.

_Well, well, well,_ Karl thought, as the creature snapped at the air where Starfire was a moment before, _what do we have here?_ He saw two of those accursed Titans just floating there in the air, including the one that should have been crushed by the falling building, the one that was used against him instead. He didn't recall bringing down that particular building, but then again, he had lost count a long time ago.

_Ah well, who am I to give up a two for one offer?_ he smirked.

"It's heading toward Raven and Blackfire!" Cyborg shouted, as he saw the beast head run down the street towards his two friends.

"Well Raven, aren't you going to do something?" Blackfire asked upon seeing the monster run toward them, ignoring the efforts of other Titans and Dawn to stop, or even slow it down.

"Blackfire-" Raven began, when she felt Blackfire's hand squeeze her own.

Blackfire was right, Raven understood reluctantly. She took in a deep breath and concentrated.

(scene change)

Fear/Anger smiled, as she felt the walls of her 'prison' enter the final stages of their destruction. She didn't know what was going on outside Raven's head, but whatever it was, it was good.

Well, good for her.

Raven should really have learned that it was impossible to limit or restrict power; you could only control it. And if not controlled, why, it would destroy whoever had it.

As she was sure it was destroying Raven right now, leaving a great deal of metaphysical real estate to take over. Oh sure, the other emotions would put up a fight, but when you got right down to it, it was from her dark side that Raven got her power, and guess who was Raven's dark side? You got three guesses, and the first two don't count.

Damn if that joke didn't get funnier the ten thousandth time she said it.

Funny, it seemed the walls were disintegrating a lot faster than she had thought. Maybe Raven was using her powers again? Good. That would make her destruction, and the subsequent takeover that much easier.

…_magical protection…need more power…_

The words whispered through the winds of Raven's mind, not that Fear/Anger was paying much attention. As far as she was concerned, Raven was doomed anyway, and 'more power' just meant 'quicker death'.

She pulled her red cloak over herself a bit tighter. The winds of the mind were getting stronger, and she didn't want to get blown away.

Suddenly, the mental walls of her prison disappeared entirely, and she raised her head and literally whooped in unholy triumph as that happened. Now she was free, free to take her rightful place on Trigon's right hand! She stretched her arms, ready to explore her newfound powers.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, and the result was still nothing. To add to her problems, the wind was starting to get uncomfortably strong.

Too strong, she thought.

Suddenly, she found herself buffeted in what must have been a hurricane, and to her horror, her body started disintegrating in mid-flight, falling into the wind in leaf-like pieces. Too late, she realized that Raven had somehow managed to gain control of her powers?

But how? She had made sure that by the time Raven reached this stage her normal mind would be too shattered to exert any kind of control over her powers.

And then, the last thing Fear/Anger would ever see, or rather, feel, before she disintegrated into nothingness.

A hand, Blackfire's hand, grasping Raven's.

(scene change)

A cruel smile on both their faces, Dr. Anton Sevarius and Cassius Wolfe watched as the beast approached Raven and Blackfire, when suddenly it stopped, the camera view swinging downwards.

A split second later, Karl's agonized scream shattered the previously jubilant mood.

"What's happening, Doctor?" Cassius asked, his voice a mixture of ruined anticipation and anger.

"I don't know, sir," Sevarius said, and this time there was no mistaking the fear in his voice. "It's as if- as if-"

"As if your vaunted mental protections weren't as effective as you had thought?" Cassius asked dangerously as he seized Sevarius's collar, his threatening whisper curiously sounding a great deal louder to Dr. Sevarius than the agonized screams of the adjutant. "Don't just stand there!" Cassius shouted to a group of stunned technicians, "get that damned helmet off him!"

Karl stopped screaming after the techs removed the helmet, but upon seeing what lay in the seat, one of the techs felt as if she would start screaming herself. Karl's hair had turned completely white, as white as his skin, and his pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, in cloudy grey eyes that would never see again. His body was trembling, and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly, without any sound issuing from lips that would have better suited a dead man.

Not that it mattered to Cassius. "Damn you Sevarius! Do you realize what your failure means? Do you have any idea how much this project cost? Not to mention the loss of a highly irreplaceable assistant!"

_My failure?_ Sevarius thought, his indignation at having to kowtow to someone he considered his mental inferior forcing him to respond, but he was interrupted by a bewildered tech before he could deliver what could have proven to be his last words.

"Uh… sir? The liz- I mean, uh, the Godzilla, it's looking back up, sir. Uh… it's looking at that Raven chick, sir. Maybe it's uh, animal instincts are taking over, or something?"

"What are you talking about?" Sevarius growled, his professional pride overriding his personal arrogance. "It isn't supposed to react at all!"

"What do you mean?" Cassius threatened, his attention as temporarily diverted as Sevarius's was.

"All the Godzilla's brain functions save the basic instructions are hardwired to the mind control system! Without the helmet, it should be able to do nothing else other than breathe- in fact," Dr Sevarius said, realizing that it should have dawned on him earlier, "it shouldn't even be able to stand." He swallowed, saying, "It appears that that 'Raven chick' had a great deal more power at her disposal than I had originally anticipated."

(scene change)

Blackfire risked opening her eyes, preparing herself for the sight of the cold plains of the Eternal Hells, as she had always expected to see after her death, but instead found herself faced with the sight of the giant lizard standing still in front of her, six-foot teeth bared. For a moment, Blackfire thought that she had opened her eyes too soon, and she was witnessing those fabled few moments before death, with every second stretched out to an eternity.

But if this moment was stretched to eternity, then why did Raven's heartbeat feel as normal as usual?

Raven's heartbeat?

Blackfire looked downwards slightly to find that, as a result of the terror of her impending death, she was desperately clutching Raven to herself.

Not that Raven seemed to be paying any attention. Her eyes were staring straight towards the monstrous reptile, but instead of simply lunging forward and consuming them in a single bite, as Blackfire had expected it to do, it just stood there, seemingly paying rapt attention to the small cloaked human in front of it. Blackfire turned to look at her friends, all of them appearing to be as confused as she was as to what was happening.

Suddenly, the beast turned, its tail narrowly missing both Raven and Blackfire, as well as the remaining buildings around it. "We must follow it," Raven said with quiet determination, and Blackfire noticed a few small beads of sweat on her forehead. There wasn't any time for questions however, as Raven soon flew after it.

"Blackfire, what the heck just happened?" Cyborg asked as Blackfire flew down beside them.

Blackfire shrugged. "She just said follow it," she offered by way of explanation, before setting off in pursuit.

(scene change)

"Hey man, that looks good."

"What?"

"That TV over there, the store 'cross the street. Get it."

The looter looked over to where his friend was pointing. "Sure man, no problem," he said, walking across the now emptied streets.

Suddenly, there was a distant rumbling that the two looters felt more than heard.

For the first few seconds anyway.

"Oh dear sweet Judas what the hell!" the looter in the middle of the street rambled incoherently, petrified with fear as he saw what was heading straight toward him, as was his friend, who watched as the giant lizard's steps took it closer and closer to his friend, its footsteps becoming louder and louder-

And then, with one final earthshaking step, its foot fell where his friend was. He stared at the spot for what seemed like an eternity. "Man, oh man, man oh man oh man," he moaned while shaking his head, wondering about what he would see when the creature raised its foot; a simple red stain, that's all, or maybe a bloodied mass of flesh and broken bone…

Then the second passed, and the great beast ran forward, leaving a terrified looter standing between the toe impressions of a very large footprint. As the two looters stood there with a mixture of fear and relief, Raven flew by, followed by Blackfire and the rest of the Titans, with the exception of Beast Boy. Seeing the two thieves standing there, he landed, waggled his finger and said, "Don't do it again!" before he flew off again.

The first looter turned to his friend in the middle of the road. "So, uh… you wanna go to church, or something?"

"Can't," his friend said numbly. "I'm Jewish."

"Oh," his friend said, his brain curiously disconnected enough to process this fact. "No shit?"

Meanwhile, Godzilla ran forward, guided by the sixth sense that the small creature had curiously given it. Somehow, that little thing was able to sense where its captors were, where those who sought to control it nested. During the time when its thoughts were not its own, it felt the touch of a small mind, a mind that was alien to it, so bloated with self-importance as it was.

That mind had forced Godzilla to feel pain, to destroy, to become what it wasn't. It remembered hatching, it remembered seeing its brethren's dead bodies. It remembered other small creatures approaching it, hurting it with poisonous stings. It remembered waking up and being bathed by a blue light, as well as the first touch of the small mind.

It remembered wanting to extract revenge.

(scene change)

"Hurry up! We don't have much time!" the mercenary said as she directed the evacuation of the facility. "What are you waiting for, Christmas?"s he shouted, rubbing her head as she watched the scenes of utter chaos before her. As far as she was concerned, this whole goddamn plan was a screwup, led by screwups, and now, say ho whaddaya know? It's screwed up!

Ah well, at least she was getting paid for it, and- "I trust all the materiel has been readied for transport?" Cassius asked over the walkie-talkie.

"It's all five-by, boss, no problems. Just a few more-"

"Hurry up then! I'm not paying you by the hour!" Cassius snarled, before the connection snapped off. "Wonder what bug got up his ass," the mercenary said to herself, before barking out orders again.

She turned around to the sound of rushed footsteps behind her to see that smug bastard Anton Sevarius running up toward her, a suitcase in hand. "What's up, Doc?" the merc asked, in a passable Bugs Bunny impersonation.

"We have to get out of here, _now_," Doctor Sevarius said, a thin sheen of sweat running down his forehead. "There should be a helicopter, or some such transport-"

"Whoa, whoa, what's the rush? Look, no-one's leaving until the boss-"

"TO HELL WITH THAT MANIAC! We have to leave now!"

_Maniac? You're one to talk_, the merc thought. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Calming down a bit, Sevarius explained, "A few minutes ago, the control room lost video contact with the creature. They don't know where it is! For all I know, it could be right on our doorstep!"

_Okay, this sounds bad_, the merc thought, but she wanted to be sure. "Hold on, if that was the case, wouldn't Cassius be here too? I mean if-"

"He's mad," Sevarius said flatly. "He talks about this being a mere 'project', when it's nothing more than an obsession! And- wait, do you feel that?" Sevarius asked, suddenly looking at the ground fearfully.

"Doc?"

"Shh! Wait, be still!"

The merc did as she was told, and then she felt it at the same time Sevarius did.

A slight tremor. She looked back at the other workers who, while working with a great deal of speed, lacked the kind of desperation she expected them to exhibit if they felt the trmors over the din of evacuation.

In other words, they could provide a useful distraction in an escape.

"How much are you paying me, doc?" she asked, turning to the doctor.

"You would discuss pay at a time like this?"

"I'm a mercenary, figure it out."

"…I do not have much money with me now, but I assure you, I have a very well-stocked Swiss account. Good enough?"

"Suits me. Come on, I know where we can get a jeep."

"So kind of you to offer, Miss…"

"Garneau. Louisa Garneau."

(scene change)

"Where did you say he was going?" Cassius, said, or rather, shouted into the intercom.

"Uh, heading towards the cargo bay, sir," the unfortunate guard on the other end of the line replied, and who found his line abruptly cut off as Cassius threw the intercom down.

"Cowards!" Cassius whispered angrily to himself. "I'm surrounded by cowards and incompetents!" He turned again to the technician at the camera console, ignoring his still disabled assistant. "How much longer?" he asked in a deceptively quiet voice, when suddenly something else entirely made the question irrelevant.

"It's here," Cassius said, hearing the faint footsteps. A bleak smile appeared o his face, a moment before he burst into laughter. "It's here," he laughed. "Do you hear those footsteps, thundering forth like the furies of myth?" he shouted at the technician, who could not decide who he was more afraid of- the giant lizard, or his increasingly unstable boss.

The steps kept on becoming louder and louder, drowning out even the maniacal laughter of his boss, and the sounds of the red alert sirens. Even in the reinforced bunker that constituted the test chamber, the tremors from the beast could still be heard. In his fear, the tech suddenly found images from his collection of Halloween and Friday the 13th videos flashing through his mind.

They didn't help much.

Abruptly, the footsteps stopped, and the tech looked apprehensively up at the ceiling. He had been so preoccupied with fixing the transmitters that it was only now that he found himself wondering for the first time about how the creature had found them so quickly. His second thought was that he didn't really give a damn, and with that in mind, he got out from beneath the console he had been working on, and ran for the door, leaving both Cassius and Mannheim in the room. His boss either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"What is it waiting for?" Cassius whispered to himself, as he kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling. Suddenly, a massive rumbling sound shook the base, but Cassius stood there. He had never run away before, and he'll be damned if he ran away now.

The rumbling grew louder, and as Cassius watched, massive claws tore through the roof of the test chamber, sending pieces of masonry and concrete dust raining down on him and his assistant. As he looked up, Cassius found himself looking upwards at Godzilla. "Well, now that you've found me," he said, his hand moving behind him to his holster, "it ends…NOW!" he said, bringing up his gun, only to find Raven descending in front of him.

"Not for you," was all she said.


	12. Judas Kisses

**Chapter Twelve: Judas Kisses**

Robin opened his eyes and found himself temporarily blinded by the lights above him. He tried to move his arms to shield his eyes, and stifled a scream from the sudden pain that shot up both his arms.

"Hold on there, Robin," Dr. Hook's voice said through the blinding light.

As the room came more into focus, Robin saw Dr. Hook looking at him, while doctors and nurses were busy moving equipment out of the room. Looking down, Robin saw his arms in a strange cagelike contraption with four steel pins sticking into the flesh, and presumably, the bone.

"Ah, I see you've noticed the arm braces," Dr. Hook said.

"That bad, huh?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry to say, it gets worse," the doctor replied. Normally he'd be a little bit more gentle with news like this, but he something told him Robin neither needed or would appreciate it. "Those things'll have to stay on six, maybe seven weeks. That means a month or two of bed rest."

"Two months?" Robin asked incredulously.

"You'll be out of the hospital in a few weeks, but yes, about two months," Hook confirmed. "And don't look at me like that- I'm just trying to do the best I can with what I have. You're not the only person hurt or injured here, you know."

"Sorry," Robin replied.

Hook's face grew a little less stern. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. Jump City's probably the safest it's ever going to be, now that we've probably got half the US Army camped down here," he said, gesturing outside the window, not that Robin could see much but the night sky and the moon from his position.

"Not with that giant lizard on the loose," Robin insisted.

"Well, there I have some good news," Hook said, smiling. "I'm not too sure about the details, but from the few news reports I've heard, it's not going to be a problem anymore."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Maybe you gave him a little too much anesthetic," Dawn said as he came in.

"Hey, Dawn! Nice to see you got out of that all right."

"Actually, we got out of it better than we thought," Dawn told him, before turning to the doctor. "Thanks for helping him, Doctor Hook."

"No problem," Hook replied. "Now, I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I've got a whole lot more work to do." He sighed wistfully. "I swear, sometimes it seemed a whole lot simpler back in Maine- Whoops, excuse me," he said, almost bumping into Starfire.

"That is not a problem, doctor- ROBIN!" she shouted, while a bemused (and temporarily deafened) Dr. Hook walked down the corridor, trying to get the ringing out of his ears. "Oh, Robin, you are all right!" she exclaimed, impulsively hugging Robin before turning to Cyborg. "And- and Dawn, you too are all right, yes?" Starfire asked, a slight note of hesitation in her voice. Apparently she still had problems coming to grips with her sister's new relationship.

"That's what I told Robin."

"Oh, this is truly a joyous day! But where are my friends, and my sister so they too might share in our celebrations?"

"Well, they're outside trying to help the doctors out, mostly."

"Raven too?" Robin asked, a slight tone of urgency in his voice.

"Yeah, Raven too. Why?"

"What?" Robin said, incredulously. "Dawn, how could you? What if-"

"Robin," Dawn said with gentle reproof. "It will be perfectly fine. I don't know what happened, but I think Raven's going to be all right with her powers. Whatever had her riled up seems to be gone now. Besides, I told you, the others are out there with her. I don't know about your friends, no offence, but I do know Blackfire, and she can take care of herself."

"I'll believe it when I see it for myself," Robin replied, but the tone of his voice indicated he was willing to give Raven the benefit of the doubt, not to mention the fact that in any case, the best person who could deal with Raven would be someone who both cared for her and was willing to fight dirty, Robin thought, and he knew Dawn was thinking the same thing. "So, what did we miss?"

An hour later, Robin was still shaking his head in disbelief. "Okay, let me get this straight: Cassius Wolfe was destroying the city and causing who knows how many casualties, just so he could test out some new superweapon?"

"Not only that, but from what I hear he was primed to get the rebuilding contracts, all while pretending to 'volunteer' his services. The same contacts in Washington who helped him smuggle that thing into Jump City also made sure of it- with a nice cut for them, of course."

Dawn leaned back in her chair. "And here I was thinking I knew all the lengths people go to for money and power," she said with a half-smile on her face.

"How about the creature?" Robin asked, not willing to be sidetracked.

Dawn shrugged. "As I said, you'll have to ask Raven for that. She broke the mind control, and then after Wolfe got arrested, she kinda convinced whoever's in charge not to kill it."

"Kinda?"

"You'd be surprised at how reasonable you can become when you've got a giant lizard backing you up. Don't quote me on this, but I think it was grateful."

Robin sighed. Had he been able to use his arms, he would have put a hand to his forehead. Broken arms, giant intelligent lizards, not to mention a love triangle. Sometimes he wondered if he should have just stuck with Batman. At least back then the worst he got was-

"No, Robin!" Starfire said.

"What?"

"You said that you should have stuck with the Bat Man!" Starfire told him.

Robin laughed, realizing he'd said that last bit out loud. "My tongue slipped, Starfire; I didn't mean it."

Starfire's forehead creased in bewilderment. "I do not understand- how could a tongue slip? It has no feet."

"Never mind, Star," Robin said, his mood much better now. "Forget I said anything."

Dawn looked from Robin, to Starfire, and then to Robin again. "Well, I think I'll just leave you two now," she said, a sly look in her eyes, "As for me, I've got a date."

(scene change)

"That should be the last of it," Cyborg said, as he unloaded the last crate of medical supplies.

"You know, when I first joined," Blackfire said as she leaned on the crate, "I thought life as a Titan would involve me fighting evil supervillains, battling monsters, saving the world and getting the credit."

"Uh, hello?" Beast Boy asked. "We have just done all three, haven't you noticed?"

"Yeah, but I never planned on also having to do all these," she sighed, "_lowly_ duties," she teased.

"So what? You're having regrets about joining us now?" Beast Boy asked defensively.

Behind him, Blackfire saw Raven walking towards them. "Regrets?" Blackfire asked, more to herself than Beast Boy, "Nope, none at all."

"I've done all I can," Raven said as she reached them. "Now it's up to the doctors."

"You know, if I had any medical supplies on my ship, I'd sell them to you at very reasonable prices," Dawn said as she landed. "So, you ready for our date yet?" she asked Blackfire.

"Date?" the other three Titans said in unison.

"Yeah, our date," Dawn told them, flicking her fingers near her cheek, the Tameranian version of a wink. With any luck, these humans wouldn't have a clue what she was planning. "You see, I'm leaving tonight, and well, you understand," she said.

"You're leaving?" Cyborg asked.

"Tonight?" Beast Boy continued.

"Yep, I'm leaving Earth tonight," Dawn said, clearly relishing the distress Raven was trying to hide- rather successfully, she thought. "So Blackfire, are you coming?"

For a moment Blackfire felt like punching Dawn right there- what was she thinking? "Well, I'd have to think about it," she said in what could only be described as a playful snarl.

Dawn either didn't notice it, or more likely, didn't care. "So, are you coming, or am I going to have myself a nice, romantic last night by myself?" as she took off. Blackfire seethed inside for a second, then took off after her, trying to ignore the look on Raven's face.

"What?" Dawn asked as she and Blackfire flew away. "Come on Blackfire, we both know it's a joke! I thought you'd love it! Not to mention the fact that you seemed okay with it back at the Tower."

"Yes, but-"

"Besides," Dawn continued, her tone softer now, "like it or not, we had something once. At least give _me_ a chance to remember those times without having Raven there."

"Dawn, that's not what I meant," Blackfire told her.

Dawn looked at her sadly, before breaking into a sudden smile. "I know. I just wanted to make you squirm a bit. Oh come on, Blackfire!" she said, as Blackfire aimed a few playful swipes at her. "Didn't you see that coming?"

(scene change)

The main doors opened, and Beast Boy was the first through. "Personally, I'll miss her," he told Cyborg. "She's a fun guy. Well, she's not a _guy_ guy, but a girl guy, uh, you know what I mean, right?"

"Uh-huh," Cyborg said, his mind on other matters; namely Raven, and how she would take it. Normally he wouldn't worry about something like this, but considering all the crazy things that had been happening, he wasn't going to take any chances. He had readied his systems to be as battle ready as they would ever be without being obvious about it.

He didn't feel better for doing it however; as far as he knew, it wasn't Raven's fault. Despite that, with Robin gone and Starfire with him, someone had to take care of the other Titans. Someone had to take on the title of leader, at least temporarily.

He wished it didn't have to happen to him.

Raven wasn't in very good shape herself. She remembered the old adage, 'If it's too good to be true it probably is', and how it was never as apt as it was now, at least in her case. Blackfire was undoubtedly going to resume traveling the galaxy with her old girlfriend, and now that Raven had full control over her abilities all over again, it would all be back to normal again.

She wished it didn't have to happen to her.

"I don' know about you guys," Beast Boy yawned, oblivious to what was happening around him, "but I'm bushed. See you tomorrow," he said, heading upstairs in the direction of his room.

"Yeah, we should probably get some rest," Cyborg said, the day's excursions catching up with him. "Raven, you all right?" he asked Raven quietly.

"…Yes," Raven said, before she too went upstairs.

(scene change)

_Okay, that should do it_, Cyborg thought as he finished calibrating his recharger. But when he was about to lie down for a night of well deserved rest, he heard someone knock on his door.

"Cyborg? It's me, Raven."

"Let me guess: it's about Blackfire, isn't it?" Cyborg asked, as soon as the door closed behind Raven.

Raven nodded. "I didn't know who else to talk to," she said, sitting down next to Cyborg.

"You really got it bad, huh?" Cyborg asked, placing his arm around her shoulder. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"…I was," Raven began before she found herself stopping, unwilling to let the words escape her mouth, and it was a second before she found the strength to try again. "I was going to let them go," she whispered.

"Let them go," Cyborg said flatly. "Let-them-go. You want me to point out the problems with that, Rae?"

"What else am I supposed to do?" Raven asked, her voice rising a little. "They're happy together. I have no right interfering."

"Oh yeah? What about you? Don't you have a right to be happy?"

"I don't do 'happy'," Raven said, looking downwards.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Raven doesn't do 'emotion'," Cyborg said, making quote marks with his fingers. "She don't do 'happy', she don't do 'sad', and she _definitely_ don't do 'love'. So what was the problem again? 'Cos if you don't have any, I'd like top get some sleep now, a'ight?"

Raven sat there, still as a stone for a few seconds, before she got up. "I can see this was a mistake. I'm sorry-"

"No Rae, wait," Cyborg said, placing a hand on her shoulder before she could go out. "I'm sorry- I kinda lost my temper there. Look, Raven, sit down and let me tell you something," he added in a kinder tone.

When Raven had sat down again, Cyborg told her that "When I was a kid, I wanted to be an athlete, but not just any athlete, I wanted to get to the Olympics, win a medal or three, you know?" He looked at Raven to make sure she was paying attention before he continued, "But as you can see," he said, holding up his arm, "I got into an accident. I don't remember anything about it. Doctors say my mind blocked out those memories."

His voice grew slightly softer now, as if speaking more to himself than to Raven. "All I can remember is waking up in the hospital, thinking about what kind of freak I became, hating my dad for turning me into this. I ran away from home, and if it weren't for you guys finding me, I could've been like the Joker, or that Cassius guy, or something like that. Something evil."

"What are you saying?" Raven asked.

"I'm saying that I got lucky," Cyborg told her. "I ran away from all my problems, but all that did was make me worse. And although I got lucky, the thing is, luck don't last. Sooner or later you gotta face your problems, or you're screwed."

He looked her in the eye before continuing, "Rae, I don't know if she loves you, but I know you love her, and I think it'll be a shame if she leaves without knowing that. At least if you tell her how you feel about her, then at least you won't go the rest of your life wondering 'what if'?"

Raven sat there a while, watching Cyborg, and then she slowly placed her arms around him. "Thank you, Cyborg," she said, her eyes closed to hold back tears she never thought she'd shed. "Thank you."

"Uh Rae?'

"Yes?"

"You sure you've got full control over your powers?"

"I think so, why?"

" 'Cos if my readouts are right I'm recharging," he said in one quick burst.

Raven drew back in surprise, and saw that indeed, Cyborg visible circuitry did seem a little… brighter than they had been. "Well looks like I won't need any sleep tonight," Cyborg said, a bit chirpier than Raven was used to. "Say you need a ride to get to Blackfire I can take you there we can take the T-Car and I'll put the pedal to the metal we'll get to her in no time trust me on this I'm your friend remember-" Cyborg managed to say before Raven cut him off.

"Er, don't worry, Cyborg," Raven said. Apparently she had what Beast Boy would undoubtedly call 'control issues' right before breaking down with laughter. "I'll go talk to her myself. It would be better that way."

"Okay sure no problem I'll just stay here and recalibrate the security systems finish repairing the Tower make myself a little dinner maybe some eggs and coffee do you want coffee I know I do."

"Cyborg?"

"Yes Raven?"

"I think coffee's the last thing you need right now."

(scene change)

"You're right," Dawn said, looking at the rocky vista before her, "It's beautiful."

"Yeah, I know," Blackfire replied. "Who knew a bunch of rocks could be so beautiful?"

"Who indeed?" Dawn replied. "You sure nobody can intrude on us while we're here? You know I hate interruptions," she said, pressing her body slightly to Blackfire, while trailing a finger up her ex-girlfriend's back.

"I told you," Blackfire said, trying to ignore what Dawn was doing, and failing miserably-not that she minded. "This place is miles from the city, and the air currents above us are very unpredictable, which means there will be no planes flying here. Trust me, I know. Why do you keep on asking th-"

Blackfire found herself being abruptly cut off by Dawn's mouth over her own, and soon she found herself pressed against a rock as Dawn continued kissing her. "I heard that humans were a bit touchy about this sort of thing," she said between kisses, "so in order to not frighten off potential customers, I decided to use a little discretion," she said, as she brought her mouth for another kiss.

At least, that was the intention before Blackfire stopped her. "Wait, Dawn," she said, placing her hand on Dawn's cheek. "We can't do this. I'm sorry," she said sadly, disengaging herself from Dawn's embrace.

"Oh come on, Blackfire," Dawn pleaded, as she watched Blackfire walk away. "It's not like anyone's going to know what we do here tonight."

"I'll know," Blackfire said loudly, surprising the both of them. "Don't ask me why, but I'll feel like I'm betraying Raven if I…" she trailed off.

"Hey, I understand," Dawn said, her hands coming around Blackfire. "I don't want to, but I understand."

"Thank you, Dawn," Blackfire said, grasping the hands around her waist tightly.

The two of them stood there in that rocky wasteland where just a year before, the Titans had met Terra, when Dawn abruptly pulled her arms back. "Wait, I almost forgot something," she said. "No, wait! Don't turn around! It's a surprise!"

"I hate surprises," Blackfire said, a bit bewildered at the sudden change in mood. "What is it?"

"I said don't turn around! Look forward! Look forward! Now close your eyes."

"Okay, I'm looking away, and my eyes are closed," Blackfire said.

Behind her, she heard Dawn sigh as she rummaged around in her flight suit. "I wanted to give this to you on board my ship, but since that's not going to happen, I'll give it to you now as something to remember me by."

Blackfire stood there, when she felt Dawn's hands place something around her throat. It was then she heard a sound which she had thought she would never again hear in her life.

The soft click of a Centauri neural collar.

"Dawn-" Blackfire said, turning around, just in time to dodge under Dawn's eye blasts. "Dawn, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to kill you!" Dawn mocked, before flinging a barrage of starbolts at Blackfire in addition to her own eye bolts. Blackfire had barely enough time to jump into a nearby shallow ravine before the place where she had been standing exploded into a cloud of dust.

"Come on, Blackfire, stop hiding! At least then you could die like a Tameranian royal would, with pride and dignity!" Dawn shouted. Her eyes scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of her target, her own instincts on edge for the slightest indication that something, anything was put of place.

However, she knew she had to draw Blackfire out; if even half of what she heard was correct, her own strength was no match for Blackfire's stealth. "I bet you're wondering what this is all about, aren't you, Blackfire? Blackfire? Are you still there? Don't worry, this isn't because we broke up. Hells, I never loved you in the first place."

There it was, a small gasp. "Oh Blackfire, you're so predictable," Dawn said while launching another salvo of energy bolts in the direction of the sound, obliterating a small rocky outcrop, but no Blackfire; her vaunted combat reflexes had gotten her away again.

Time to try bring her out again. "Blackfire? Blackfire, are you still there? I have something to tell you! You remember that building that almost fell on you today? My work, not the big lizard's. I know, I know, it was lacking in finesse, but it was the best I could do with what I had," she said in a pleading tone.

Still nothing, save the crackling sound of slowly cooling rock. "Blackfire," she sighed, "it's nothing personal, honest. It's just that, well, there are people on Tamaran who would really like to see you out of the way, and so you could say I'm now trying to finish the job I started all those years ago," she said earnestly. "Remember, Blackfire? When we first met? You were so gullible then. Poor lonely Blackfire, wishing she had someone to talk to, wishing someone could just understand what she was going through. And guess who was there to provide that understanding?"

Dawn looked around. Maybe it was just her, but she felt Blackfire was close. Good. "That's right, Blackfire, I played you! Played you for a fool, how does that make you feel? I arranged for the guards to find us, arranged for you to become disgraced, I even arranged the 'pirate raid'!" She looked around, saying, "But it would have all worked out if only your father lived up to his promise." Her face darkened with rage as she went on, "He never really disowned you. You can probably guess how me and my… associates felt when we found out he still had you chosen as a potential successor. But that didn't really bother us; as long as you were running around the Galaxy, you weren't any danger. Hells, you helped us make quite a bit of money on the side."

She snorted. "But then your stupid pride got in the way, and you had to come back to Earth- not once, but twice! Then the cursed Centauri slave race had to interfere and make you respectable; no, not respectable, a hero! A perfect candidate for first succession! Well, I won't let that happen! Do you hear me, Blackfire?" she shouted. "I will not let that happen! I have worked too hard for this!"

Hmph, still no Blackfire. Time to up the stakes a bit. "Blackfire, let me be blunt. You cannot use your powers, you can't fly back, and the jamming equipment I have with me, although a bit crude, is more than enough to block any signal from your communicator, as I'm sure you've found out. I, however, till have my powers, which means that I can reach the Tower long before you can. I can reach Raven before you can." She idly shaped starbolt energy with her hand as she continued, "She'll be dead long before you can save her."

Right after she said this, she immediately turned and brought her fist around in time to punch Blackfire squarely in the stomach. Immediately after that, Dawn brought another fist to the side of Blackfire's face, followed immediately by a third blow that sent her quarry backwards into a nearby cliff face. "I knew it," she exclaimed triumphantly, "I frelling knew it! Ah, Blackfire, you really have changed," she said, walking slowly towards Blackfire, who was lying in the cave, gasping for breath. This was a moment she wanted to remember. "It's a good thing raven doesn't know how much you care about her; that would make your death all the more painful," she finished.

She raised her hands, now glowing with starbolt energy, and threw the two starbolts at the defenseless Blackfire.

Only to watch them impact on a shield of dark energy that suddenly appeared in front of Blackfire.

"Get away from her," Raven said, as she descended into the space between Dawn and Blackfire, her own hands radiating dark power.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the other woman," Dawn snarled. "How did you- never mind. I've killed before; two more victims doesn't matter," she said, before flying towards Raven starbolts blazing.

Raven immediately erected another energy shield, and started to push back against Dawn's assault. But despite her newfound control over her powers, she felt her control wavering. Not only that, but she had Blackfire to worry about. She looked for any way out, any way she could distract her opponent for even a moment, when she saw a large rock atop a small cliff face above Dawn. "Azerath Metrion XINTHOS!" she yelled, and Dawn looked up just in time to blast the boulder to smithereens. But when she looked back, neither Blackfire nor Raven were to be seen. "I hope you're not running away!" she shouted taking to the air.

"Trust me, I'm not," Raven said, as she reemerged from behind a rock outcropping. "Let's finish this."

"Oh yes, let's," Dawn hissed, as she launched her starbolts at the same time Raven sent two clawed hands slashing at her enemy. Unfortunately, Raven wasn't quite fast enough, and while she managed to dodge the brunt of the blast, the concussion knocked her down onto the rough ground, while her 'hands' dissolved into nothingness after Raven lost concentration.

Dawn landed, and readied herself to kill Raven, when suddenly the small rocks and pebbles around her glowed with dark energies before flinging themselves at her and her eyes shut reflexively. When she opened them a split second later, she saw another large rock heading towards her a split second before it hit her and pinned her to the ground.

At first, Raven thought she had brought Dawn down, but right after she had brought it down on Dawn, the rock shattered to reveal her very enraged opponent. The shockwave of the blast threw Raven down on the ground.

"Let's see if you can dodge this!" Dawn said, aiming another starbolt at Raven, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Forgot someone?" Blackfire said, before punching an unsuspecting Dawn squarely in the face, and her second blow sent Dawn reeling backwards much in the same way Blackfire had. When Dawn tried to swing her fist at Blackfire, there was a loud crack as Blackfire blocked her blow with her arm. "I don't wear this battle armor for nothing," Blackfire said as she seized Dawn's ruined arm and pulled her forward, where headbutted Dawn's face. A split second after she did that, Blackfire gave Dawn a blow in the stomach, and as Dawn staggered back, Blackfire delivered a final roundhouse kick that sent her would-be assassin careering backwards into a steep trench.

"Is she dead?" Blackfire asked, as she and Raven walked o the edge of the trench. The pained moan that came from it was more than answer enough for the both of them, as they looked down into a drop of no more than a few meters. "She isn't dead? Good," Blackfire said, preparing to jump down and finish Dawn off, before Raven stopped her.

"Don't."

"What do you mean, don't? She just tried to kill me! And you too, didn't you notice?"

"Yes, I noticed. I also noticed you saving my friends' lives from the Puppet King, fighting Legion… and staying with me when you could have run away." Placing her hand on Blackfire's cheek, she continued, "You're better than her, Blackfire, I know you are."

"…I hate you, you know that, Raven? I hate you," Blackfire replied. "So what are we going to do with her?"

"I don't- wait," Raven said, reaching for her beeping communicator and turning it on.

"Hey Raven I've been trying to get to you and Blackfire where is she some people want to speak to her," Cyborg said.

Blackfire raised an eyebrow. "Looks like the jamming's stopped. Raven, what's happened to Cyborg?"

"Long story," Raven replied. "Cyborg, who wants to see Blackfire?"

"Oh those two Centauri Kai and Cron they want to speak to Blackfire it's about Dawn," he said.

(scene change)

"Forgive us for asking this, Lady Komand'r, but why is your friend Cyborg so… active?" Officer Kai asked, as he watched Cyborg apply even more car wax to the Centauri's main ship.

Blackfire was so bemused by what Cyborg was doing she didn't even notice Officer Kai's use of the honorific. "I asked Raven about it, but all she would say, 'Long story'," Blackfire replied with a very passable Raven impersonation. Behind the ship was the special portable jail cell the Centauri used to transport dangerous criminals. After Raven and Officer Cron had secured, or rather, sealed, Dawn inside it, the Centauri would tractor beam it all the way to one of their penal colonies. For some reason, Blackfire felt a little miffed that she didn't warrant that kind of protection when the Centauri came for her.

"I see," Kai said. "I noticed part of the city was in a heavily damaged state," he said, turning toward the city. "Are your friends…?"

"What? Oh yeah, there was a little trouble today, but my friends are okay. One of them's in the hospital with my sister, and another one's asleep," she said. "Beast Boy could sleep through an earthquake."

"The prisoner has been secured, Kai," Officer Cron said as he and Raven returned. "Thanks to the Lady Raven, Pyurit'i will definitely survive to face trial."

"I'm still having issues with that, if anyone's interested," Blackfire told them.

"Lady Komand'r, understand that despite your newfound status in the Tameranian court, we are here at your father's behest, and thus must obey Tameranian law," he said. There was more than a trace of humor in his voice as he continued, "No matter how much we agree with you."

"Oh, how sweet- I think I'll make you part of my Royal Bodyguard, how's that?"

"That is a matter we must discuss as well, Lady Komand'r," Officer Kai said. "Your father asked us to convey his wish for you to come back to Tamaran, so that you may receive proper training for the throne."

"What?" Blackfire exclaimed, while Raven seemed to become paler than usual.

"Your father never really gave up hope that you would return, which was why he was so willing to send your sister here," Officer Cron explained. "If you wish, we will escort you back."

Blackfire stood there, stunned. Visions of power, of adoration, of- of acceptance flashed through her mind. She saw herself addressing a massive cheering crowd, while behind her, her father and mother looked at her lovingly, approvingly.

And then, an image of Raven, alone in the shadows, turning away. She could not leave Earth- she was needed here. And without Raven…

What the hells. Power? If you wanted it, you didn't have it. Acceptance? Blackfire had traveled the reaches of the known galaxy, and had found no place more accepting than Earth. Adoration? If Raven's actions were any indication, then she had all the adoration she wanted right there.

Besides, she wouldn't be Blackfire if she didn't cause _someone_ some trouble.

"Tell my father that I appreciate his offer, but I must refuse."

"Refuse?" the two Officers asked in unison. "But-"

"Excuse me? Did my father give any actual _orders_ for you to bring me back?"

"Well, no, but-" Officer Kai began.

"Good. Then, as a princess of the House of and'r of Tamaran, I grant you permission to leave," Blackfire said grandly. "Now, you may leave us," she pompously added, her hands making the appropriate shooing motions.

The two Officers looked at each other and shrugged. "Very well, Lady Komand'r, if that is what you wish. Come along, Kai. We have a prisoner to transport."

(scene change)

Within the jail transport, Dawn pondered the terrible fate that awaited her as she sat within a circle of energy rods, promising an extremely painful shock should she touch them. The death penalty on Tamaran had been abolished for all capital crimes- except for those against royalty. And considering what she had done, and how much evidence there was, she was doomed-

"Greetings, Pyurit'i," a voice said, almost drowned out by the ship's engines as it took off.

Dawn looked around an empty room, trying to find the source of that strangely familiar voice. "Who said that? Reveal yourself!"

"Don't worry, there's nobody in here with you; this is a recording, my dear Pyurit'i, or would you rather be called by the name you have taken? What was it again? Ah yes, Isizine't, wasn't it?"

Dawn froze. The echoes in the chamber had warped the voice a bit, but now that she had time to figure it out…

"Yes, my dear, it's me, your 'father', Lord Dezikre't. Did you actually think that being the illegitimate product of one of my misspent nights in a backwater planet would make you part of my bloodline? Were you even thinking of ascending to Tamaran's throne? My dear, despite your admittedly profound understanding of underworld tactics, you seem to be incredibly naïve regarding Tameranian families. Even were you successful here, I would have had you killed anyway; after all, I can't have anything connecting me to it, could I?"

Dawn punched the floor with her hands in frustration. Was that really all her father thought of her? Didn't he- wait, 'have you killed anyway'?

There was a soft hissing coming from the bottom of her cell, and her horror, she saw some sort of gas coming from several small holes in the floor. In her sudden shock, she accidentally backed into one of the energy rods, sending reeling in pain her face first to the floor- and the poison gas.

"Thankfully, the Tameranian Embassy on Centauri Prime has its own share of my agents- patriotic Tameranians, sick of the and'r's weakening of our race, who made sure that the particular ship you would be transported on would have a few… modifications, as you have undoubtedly found out."

But by the time he said that, Pyurit'i didn't hear him.

(scene change)

"We let her off too easily," Blackfire grumbled to Raven as they watched the (very shiny) ship take off. Cyborg had gone back in the Tower, saying he felt like upgrading the T-Car, the T-Sub, fix up Robin's R-Cycle…

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" raven asked

"What do _you_ think?" Blackfire asked flippantly, before she grew serious. "Um, Raven? Thanks for helping me back there. How did you find me anyway?"

"The same way I used you to find my friends when the Puppet King held them prisoner."

"Really? I thought you needed to have a strong emotional connection to the people you're looking for for that to happen."

This time Raven was prepared to handle her outburst of emotion; despite that, however, she was sure she was blushing as she replied, "You do."

"Raven!" Blackfire said in mock distress. "I never knew you hated me that much!" Seeing the miffed look on Raven's face, Blackfire laughed. "Oh, come on, Raven," she said, placing her arms on Raven's shoulders, "Can't you take a joke?"

Raven looked at Blackfire, wanting to bite off a snappy retort, but stopped when she realized snappy retorts were more Blackfire's style. Besides, what little animosity she bore towards Blackfire was sapped out by the arms now moving to encircle her body, by the soft breathing she felt near her lips…

Soon, they found themselves locked in a passionate kiss, both of them pleasantly surprised when Raven took the initiative, gently using her tongue to nudge Blackfire's lips, then mouth, open. Their hands moved all over each other, clutching, grasping, pulling them closer, trying to pull the other into herself. They felt not only each other's warmth, the heavy breaths each of them were taking, but also the intense sense of connection both of them shared, the raw outpouring of emotion that made them both feel like they were flying.

They did not know, or care, how long they kissed, but no matter how long they spent like that, it was still all too soon when their lips parted, and they found themselves bathed in moonlight as their gazes locked, and still embracing each other tightly, they stared deeply, directly into each other's eyes…

"Wait," Raven said, slightly puzzled. "Aren't you taller than me?"

At first, Blackfire found herself being slightly annoyed. Raven had to interrupt their first kiss with some silly- "Hey, yeah, I am taller," she said, realizing Raven had a point. They looked at each other for a second before they both looked down in unison.

To find themselves floating a few feet in the air. "That's… that's never happened to me before, I swear," Blackfire said, as they descended.

"Never mind, I forgive you," Raven replied, smiling slightly. "Blackfire?" she asked, serious again.

"Yeah?"

"No offence, but… I'd like it if we didn't go any further with this tonight, please?"

_She looks so cute when she's nervous_, Blackfire thought. "Hey, no problem. To tell the truth, I'm not really comfortable with it yet either," she admitted. "But things can change, can't they…?" she asked slyly.

Raven sighed, half exasperated, half anticipating. "Come on, Blackfire," she said. "Let's just get some sleep."

And hand in hand, they went back into the Tower.

On a nearby ledge, a small gecko ran down the Tower's outer walls, down, down, down into an open window, where it entered a very messy room. On the walls were pictures of popular 'rock' stars, pop singers, as well as a few scantily clad actresses. The lizard didn't care about those, however, as it walked from the wall onto the room's floor.

Beast Boy pounded the floor of his room in frustration and rage as hot tears ran down his cheeks, his sobs coming out of him in short, tortured breaths. "How could you do this to me, Raven?" he whispered angrily. "After all we've been through, how could you, Raven? I thought we were friends!"

His fists clenched, as if trying to rip the carpet apart with his bare hands. "How could you do this to me, Raven?" he repeated through his tears, "I thought you loved me…"

To be continued in **Green Eyed Monster**…


End file.
